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CALIFORNIA  LEGISLATURE 


Fifth  Report  of  the 

Senate  Fact-Finding  Committee 

On  Un-American  Activities 

1949  */f4£* 

JUN  2  4  1949 

REFERENCE   DEPARTMENT 
SAN  FRANCISCO 
PUBLIC  LIBRARY 

MEMBERS  OF  THE  COMMITTEE 

SENATOR  NELSON  S.  DILWORTH  SENATOR  LOUIS  G.  SUTTON 

SENATOR  FRED  H.  KRAFT  SENATOR  CLYDE  A.  WATSON 

SENATOR  HUGH  M.  BURNS,  Vice  Chairman 

SENATOR  JACK  B.  TENNEY,  Chairman 

LINNIE  TENNEY,  Secretary  MURRAY  STRAVERS,  Execuf/Ve  Secretary 

R.  E.  COMBS,  Chief  Counsel 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  SENATE 

LIEUTENANT  GOVERNOR  GOODWIN  J.  KNIGHT 
Presidenf  of  the  Senate 

SENATOR  HAROLD  J.  POWERS  JOSEPH  A.  BEEK 

President  Pro  Tempore  of  the  Senate  Secretary  of  the  Senate 


AN  AMERICAN'S  CREED 


615995 


"I  believe  in  the  United  States 
of  America  a*  a  Government  of 
the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the 
people ;  whose  just  powers  are  de- 
rived from  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned ;  a  democracy  in  a  republic ; 
a  sovereign  Nation  of  many  sov- 
ereign states;  a  perfect  union, 
one  and  inseparable ;  established 
upon  those  principles  of  freedom, 
equality,  justice  and  humanity, 
for  which  American  patriots  sac- 
rificed their  lives  and  fortunes. 
I  therefore  believe  it  is  my  duty 
to  my  Country  to  love  it ;  to  sup- 
port its  Constitution ;  to  obey  its 
laws ;  to  respect  its  Flag ;  and  to 
defend  it  against  all  enemies. ' ' 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL 

Senate  Chamber,  State  Capitol 

Sacramento,  June  8, 1949 
Honorable  Goodwin  J.  Knight 

President  of  the  Senate;  and 
Gentlemen  of  the  Senate 

Senate  Chamber,  Sacramento,  California 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Senate  : 

Pursuant  to  Senate  Resolution  No.  75,  which  appears  at  page  3532 
of  the  Senate  Journal  for  June  20,  1947,  the  Senate  Fact-Finding  Com- 
mittee on  Un-American  Activities  was  created  and  the  following  were 
appointed  by  the  Senate  Committee  on  Rules : 

Senator  Hugh  M.  Burns, 
Senator  Nelson  S.  Dilworth, 
Senator  Fred  H.  Kraft, 
Senator  Louis  G.  Sutton, 
Senator  Clyde  A.  Watson, 
Senator  Jack  B.  Tenney. 

The  committee  herewith  submits  a  partial  report  of  its  inv^sfciga-. 
tions  and  findings. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

Hugh  M.  Burns, 

Nelson  S.  Ddlworth, 

Fred  H.  Kraft, 

Louis  G.  Sutton, 

Clyde  A.  Watson, 

Jack  B.  Tenney,  Chairman 


California's  state  capitol 


CONTENTS 

PREFACE 

Page 

Communism  Threatens  Human  Freedoms 1 

Part  One 

INTRODUCTION 

Senate  Resolution  No.  75 5 

Organization  of  the  Committee 7 

Appreciation  and  Acknowledgement 8 

Know  Your  Enemy! 9 

An  Unheeded  Warning 10 

THE  WORLD  SITUATION 

What  Does  Russia  Want? 13 

I.  A  Specter  Is  Haunting  Europe 14 

Soviet  Tactics  Not  Peaceful 15 

Isolationist  or  Revolutionary? 16 

Soviet  and  Communist  Policy 17 

II.  The  Theory  and  Practice  of  Communism 

A.     Communist  Reliance  on  Theory 18 

The  Leninist  Zigzag  Line 19 

The  State  as  a  Monopoly  of  Force 22 

C.  Dictatorship   23 

Marxism  and  the  Peasants 24 

Democratic  Centralization 26 

Communist  Moral  Values 26 

Religion  as  a  Key 27 

D.  The  Place  of  the  U.S.S.R 28 

International  Relations 30 

Cominform  Signified  Antagonism 32 

F.  The  Present  World  Situation 33 

Reds  Count  on  Crisis  in  U.  S 34 

G.  Summary 35 

III.  The  Tactics  of  World  Communism 

A.  Ends  and  Means 36 

B.  Soviet  Defense 37 

Strategic  Materials 39 

C.  Soviet  Foreign  Policy 40 

The  Iron  Curtain__J 42 


TABLE  OF   CONTENTS — CONTINUED 

THE  WORLD  SITUATION— Continued  Pw 

D.  Political  Tactics  of  Communism 45 

Strength  of  the  Communist  Parties 46 

The  National  Sovereignty  Line 48 

Divide  and  Rule  Tactics 49 

Infiltration  Tactics 50 

Vituperation  Tactics 51 

Appeasement  Tactics 52 

E.  Economic  Tactics  of  Communism 53 

Red  Emphasis  on  Gold 54 

Land  Reform  Tactics 55 

Labor  and  Economic  Tactics 57 

F.  Combined  Tactics 58 

Why  Communists  Act  Alike 59 

Communist  Tactical  Flexibility 61 

Red  Tactical  Weaknesses 62 

IV.  The  Approach  to  Counteraction 

A.  Our  Problem 63 

B.  Our  Handicaps 64 

C.  The  Line  of  Least  Resistance 65 

D.  Our  Case  in  Their  Language 66 

The  Freedom  Question 70 

E.  Negative  Countermeasures 71 

F.  Positive    Countermeasures 73 

Clear  Policy  Must  Be  Stated 74 

A  New,  Uncharted  Era 76 

Our  Positive  Position 77 

Pertinent  Official  Documents 78 

Official  United  States  Protests 81 

THE  DOMESTIC  SITUATION 

I.  Six  Periods  of  Communist  Strategy  in  U.  S 85 

First  Period— 1919  to  1921 86 

Second  Period— 1921  to  1928 86 

Third  Period— 1928  to  1935 87 

Fourth  Period— 1935  to  1939 87 

Fifth  Period— 1939  to  1941 88 

Sixth  Period— 1941  to  1945 91 

The  Lessons  of  History 92 

Communist  Pre-War  Treachery 93 

Summary  of  Sixth  Period 93 

II.  Seventh  Period  of  Communist  Strategy  in  U.  S 94 

Seventh  Period  Shakeup 96 

The  Red  Yo-Yo  Routine 96 

Hardened  Reds  Still  With  Us 97 

Future  Communist  Activity 98 


TABLE  OP  CONTENTS CONTINUED 

THE  DOMESTIC  SITUATION— Continued  Page 

III.  The  Great  Contradiction 98 

The  Proof  of  the  Pudding 99 

Communist   Contradictions 100 

The  March  of  Violent  Communist  Revolution 100 

IV.  U.  S.  Reds  and  Foreign  Communist  Parties 102 

A.  China 102 

B.  Greece    105 

C.  Czechoslovakia   110 

D.  Hungary   114 

E.  Rumania 116 

F.  Bulgaria 117 

G.  Poland  118 

H.    Yugoslavia 124 

I.      Italy 127 

THE  CALIFORNIA  SITUATION 

We  Were  Warned  in  1939-40 130 

Problems  Bearing  on  the  Report 131 

The  Committee's  Conclusions 131 

Blueprint  for  Treachery 132 

Two  Party  Lines  Combined 134 

1939  and  1949 137 

New  Approach  Is  Needed 140 

They  Tell  Us  in  Plain  Words 143 

We  Are  Warned  Again  in  1949 146 

1939's  Agitators  in  1949 146 

THE  MAJOR  LEGISLATIVE  AND  LEGAL  PROBLEM 

The  1948  Report  on  Fronts 149 

The  Goals  of  Communism 151 

Reaction  to  1948  Report 152 

The  Problem  to  be  Solved 153 

The  Communist  Party  Is  an  Agent  of  a  Foreign  Power 154 

I.  Origin  and  Background 155 

II.  Theory  and  Practice 155 

III.  Stages  in  Its  History 156 

IV.  Russian  Communist  Party  and  the  International  Movement  159 

Russian  Party  Model 159 

Russian  Dominance 160 

Instructions  from  Moscow 162 

Parallel   Policies 164 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS — CONTINUED 

THE  MAJOR  LEGISLATIVE  AND  LEGAL  PROBLEM— Cont. 

Page 

V.  How  the  World  Communist  Party  Is  Controlled 167 

Statutes 169 

A  Message  from  Duclos 170 

Communist  International  Representatives 171 

Reports  to  Communist  International 173 

VI.  The  American  Section  of  the  World  Communist  Party 175 

American  Delegates  to  Moscow 176 

Missions  to  Moscow 178 

American  Agents  of  Moscow 178 

Press  Propaganda 180 

International  Holidays 181 

The  Communist  Party  Is  An  Advocate  of  Overthrow  of 

Government  by  Force  and  Violence 182 

I.  Denials  and  Misconceptions 185 

Communist  Deception  Is  Brazen 187 

II.  Devotion  to  Principles  of  Marx,  Engels.  Lenin  and  Stalin  188 

Official  Red  Reading  List 190 

Works  of  Lenin 191 

Works  of  Stalin 192 

III.  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States 192 

Citations  from  U.  S.  Communist  Sources 192 

M.  J.  Olgin's  "Why  Communism?" 199 

IV.  Basic  Documents  Advocating  Force  and  Violence 202 

A.  Karl  March  and  Friederich  Engels 203 

B.  Vladimir  I.  Lenin 204 

C.  Joseph  Stalin 219 

D.  History  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union 223 

E.  Communist  International  (The  Comintern) 239 

F.  Program  of  the  Communist  International 236 

V.  Legal  Determinations  as  to  the  Communist  Party  and  Its 
Advocacy  of  Overthrow  of  Government  by  Force  and 

Violence   245 

Supreme  Court  Decisions 245 

Federal  Court  Decisions 246 

Justice  Douglas'  Statement 252 

VI.  Definitions 252 


Errata  :  On  page  183,  line  4  of  paragraph  3  should  read : ' '  established 
and  documented  on  preceding  pages  154  to  182. ' ' 


TABLE  OF   CONTENTS — CONTINUED 

OFFICIAL  CITATIONS  OF  COMMUNIST  FRONTS 
AND  PUBLICATIONS 

Page 

Official  Sources 257 

Reds  Won't  Debate  Facts 258 

The  Identification  of  Red  Fronts 258 

The  Tell-Tale  Marks  of  Stalinism 260 

The  Foreign  Policy  Twist  Test 264 

Communist  Defense  Technique 267 

Organizations  (Arranged  in  Alphabetical  Order) 267 

Publications  (Arranged  in  Alphabetical  Order) 381 

IMPORTANT  COMMUNIST  FRONT  ACTIVITY 

I.  American  Russian  Institute 412 

II.  American  Slav  Congress 413 

III.  California  Labor  School 415 

J.  Edgar  Hoover's  Statement 416 

Los  Angeles  Communist  Workers  School 417 

Authoritative  Marxist-Leninist  Viewpoint 417 

PEC  Absorbs  Workers  School 418 

League  of  American  Writers  School 419 

People's  Educational  Center,  1944 421 

Communist  PEC,  1945 422 

San  Francisco's  California  Labor  School 423 

Trojan  Horse  Camouflage 425 

Communist  Courses  at  California  Labor  School 426 

Communist  Schools  in  1949 426 

IV.  California  Legislative  Conference 435 

First  State-wide  Conference 435 

Second  State-wide  Conference 435 

Conference  Sponsors 435 

Communist  Inspired  March  on  Sacramento 436 

1948  Conference  Executive  Board 436 

1949  March  on  Sacramento 438 

V.  Civil  Rights  Congress 439 

International  Labor  Defense 439 

Background  of  Civil  Rights  Congress 440 

Antagonism  Toward  United  States 440 

Protective  Communist  Measures 442 

Status  of  Civil  Liberties  in  America 444 

Origin,  Extent  and  Purpose  of  Civil  Rights  Congress 445 

Interlocking  Relationships 448 

Key  Individuals  (Listed  in  Alphabetical  Order) 450 

Summary 456 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS — CONTINUED 

IMPORTANT   COMMUNIST  FRONT  ACTIVITY— Continued    P*o* 

VI.  Congress  of  American  Women . 456 

International  Red  Leadership 457 

Stalinist  Activities 459 

VII.  Federated  Press 460 

VIII.  Marxist-Leninist  Publishing  Houses 469 

IX.  International  Workers  Order 463 

MaxBedacht's  Testimony 464 

Hitler-Stalin  Pact  I  WO*  Rally 464 

Nationality  Group  Divisions 466 

Stalinist  Propaganda  Activities 467 

X.  Joint  Anti-Fascist  Refugee  Committee 468 

XL   (Independent)  Progressive  Party 469 

Communist  Leadership 470 

XII.  League  of  American  Writers 471 

XIII.  Labor  Union  Caucus 472 

Reds  Sustain  Losses 472 

Communist  Trade  Union  Duplicity 474 

Labor-Management  Responsibility 476 

XIV.  National  Council  of  Arts,  Sciences  and  Professions 476 

Red  Peace  Conference 476 

Genealogy  of  a  Red  Front 477 

The  Propaganda  Conference 478 

Sponsors  of  World  Peace  Conference 479 

Sponsors  Front  Affiliations 483 

World  Peace  Congress  in  Paris 490 

Highlights  of  New  York  Conference 492 

Civil  Disobedience 492 

Debasement  of  Culture 493 

Anti-American,  Pro-Soviet  Tone 494 

Scientists 495 

Number  of  Communist  Affiliations  of  Sponsors 498 

Communist  Fronts  with  Which  Sponsors  Affiliated 501 

Participation  by   Known   Communists   and  Fellow- 
Travelers  516 

Sponsors  Support  of  Individual  Communists 520 

Sponsors  Defense  of  Arrested  and  Indicted  Commu- 
nists    526 

Sponsors  Support  of  the  Soviet  Union 527 

Sponsors  Support  of  May  Day  Parades 534 

Sponsors  and  the  Communist  Press 535 

XV  National  Council  of  American-Soviet  Friendship 539 

Steele  Testimony 540 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS CONTINUED 

IMPORTANT   COMMUNIST  FRONT  ACTIVITY— Continued    *<W* 
XVI.  National  Lawyers' Guild 540 

Hitler-Stalin  Pact  Period  Activities 541 

California  Leaders 542 

XVII.  People's  Songs 542 

Communist  Entertainment  Activity 543 

XVIII.  Press  Networks 544 

XIX.  Racial  Caucus 549 

Communist  Negro  Race  Agitation 549 

Communist  Jewish  Race  Agitation 550 

Vicious  U.  S.  Totalitarian  and  Race-Baiters ;  Gerald  L.  K. 
Smith,  the  Klan,  Etc 550 

Communist  Anti-Semitism 551 

XX.  Veterans  Caucus 552 

Abraham  Lincoln  Brigade 553 

Steele  Testimonv 554 

Ex-OSS  Officer  Heads  Red  Reserve  Force  in  U.  S 556 

United  Negro  and  Allied  Veterans 556 

XXI.  Youth  and  Education  Caucus 557 

1949  Communist  Youth  Strategy 558 

Communist  Youth  Program 559 

American  Youth  for  Democracy 560 

Summary 563 

LEGISLATION  AND  THE  COURTS 

The  Field  of  Anti-Subversive  Law 565 

I.  Principal  Constitutional  Limitations 566 

II.  These  Limitations  Impose  Three  Basic  Standards 567 

"Clear  and  Present  Danger" 567 

III.  Statutory  and  Judicial  Precedents 569 

A.  Statutory  Regulations  That  Directly  Affect  the  Indi- 
vidual    569 

(1)  Treason  569 

(2)  Insurrection  and  Rebellion 569 

(3)  Sedition 569 

(4)  Sabotage   569 

(5)  Masks  and  Disguises 572 

(6)  Criminal  Conspiracy  and  Unlawful  Assembly 572 

(7)  Public  Employment 572 

(a)  Federal  Employment 572 

(b)  State  Emplovment 573 

(8)  Flag  Saluting 574 

(9)  Alien  Registration 574 

(10)   Oath  Requirements 575 

XI 


TABLE  OF   CONTENTS CONTINUED 

LEGISLATION  AND  THE  COURTS— Continued  J**w 
B.  Statutory  Regulations  That  Directly  Affect  Organiza- 
tions, and  Individuals  as  Members  of  Organizations 576 

(1)  Requiring  Registration 576 

(2)  Prohibiting  Use  of  School  Property 576 

(3)  Regulations  That  Exclude  Organizations  from 
Official  Recognition  as  Political  Parties 577 

(4)  Regulations  That  Preclude  Persons  Who  Are 
Members  of  Subversive  Organizations  from  Hold- 
ing Public  Office 578 

(5)  Regulations  That  Exclude  Members  of  Organiza- 
tions from  Candidacy  for  Elective  Office 579 

IV.  Summary 579 

Appendix  to :  Legislation  and  the  Courts 581 

Texts  of  Some  of  the  Constitutional  and  Statutory  Pro- 
visions Cited  or  Discussed : 

(1)  Constitution  of  California 581 

(2)  California  Penal  Code 581 

(3)  California  Military  and  Veterans  Code 582 

(4)  California  Government  Code 582 

(5)  California  Education  Code 583 

(6)  California  Elections  Code 584 

(7)  California  Corporations  Code 584 

(8)  Criminal  Syndicalism  and  Sabotage 586 

(9)  Masks 587 

(10)  New  York  Penal  Law 588 


TABLE   OF   CONTEXTS CONTINUED 

Part  Two 

INTRODUCTION 

Page 

1949  Legislative  Proposals 590 

Loyalty  Program  Tested  in  Los  Angeles 592 

Investigation 593 

Indictment  and  Prosecution 593 

Community  Action 594 

LOS  ANGELES  COUNTY  LOYALTY  CHECK  PROGRAM 

Progress  of  Litigation 596 

Appellate  Court  Decision 597 

Los  Angeles  City  and  Board  of  Education  Programs 598 

FIRST  CONFERENCE  OF  STATE  LEGISLATIVE 
COMMITTEES  AND  REPRESENTATIVES 

Proceedings  of  September  20,  1948 599 

Senator  Bienz 600 

Senator  Tenney 603 

Chairman  Canwell 606 

I.  Fred  B.  Wood — On  Legislation  and  the  Courts 607 

II.  Edward  J.  Davenport — On  the  Civic  Problem 610 

The  Belton  Case 610 

An  Error  Averted 612 

III.  Ed  Gibbons — On  Communist  Propaganda 614 

IV.  KarlBaarslag — On  "Know  Your  Enemy" 637 

Western  Civilization  Is  in  Dire  Peril 638 

Braddock  Learned  Too  Late 638 

The  Insidious  Fallacy 640 

Fighting  Reds  Demands  Experience 642 

Communists  Are  Swindlers 642 

What  Communists  Think  of  You 643 

All  Communists  Are  Enemy  Agents 645 

Our  520  Foundations 646 

V.  Rabbi  Max  Merritt — On  Reds  and  Minorities 647 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS CONTINUED 

THE  COMMUNITY  APPROACH 

Page 
Our  Weaknesses 651 

Citizens  Advisory  Committee 651 

Positive  Programs  to  Combat  Communism 651 

I.  The  American  Legion — How  You  Can  Fight  Communism.  652 
II.  Kiwanis  International— " Red  Letter  Day" 657 

III.  The  A.  N.   A. — A.   A.   A.   A.   Program — Understanding 

Our  System 660 

The  National  Advertising  Campaign 669 

The  Need  for  Education 670 

IV.  The  Los  Angeles  Conference  Program 670 

Summary 674 

Every  Citizen's  Responsibility 675 

INVESTIGATION  AND  EXPOSURE 

The  "Fight  Thought  Control"  Communist  Program 679 

Americanism  vs.  Stalinism 680 

The  Stigma  of  Stalinism 681 

Sabotage  of  Hearings 682 

Specific  Recommendations 682 

Knight  Public  Opinion  Survey 684 

REPUDIATIONS  AND  DENIALS  OF  COMMUNISM 

The  Committee's  Critics 687 

The  Statistics  of  Denial  and  Repudiations 690 

An  American  Protest 692 

The  Party  Line  Test 693 

Denials  and  Repudiations : 

I.  American  Institute  of  Pacific  Relations 694 

II.  American  Jewish  Committee 694 

III.  Wallace  Beery 695 

IV.  Orville  R.  Caldwell 695 

V.  Henry  Fisher 696 

VI.  Dave  Foutz 696 

VII.  Institute  for  American  Democracy 696 

VIII.  Institute  for  Democratic  Education 697 

IX.  D.R.  O'Neill 697 

X.  Msgr.  Thomas  J.  O 'Dwyer 697 

XI.  Benjamin  Stolberg 697 

XII.  Alfred  Wallenstein 697 

"Who  Are  the  Smear  Groups?" 699 

XIV 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS CONTINUED 

FINDINGS  AND  RECOMMENDATIONS 

Page 

The  1940  Report  Sounded  A  Warning 701 

The  1943  Report 701 

The  1945  Report ___ _  704 

The  1947  Report 704 

The  1947  Recommendations 706 

The  1948  Report  on  Communist  Fronts 707 

The  1949  Recommendations 707 


"I  pledge  allegiance  to  the  Flag  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  and  to  the  Ee- 
public  for  which  it  stands ;  one  Nation, 
indivisible,  with  liberty  and  justice  for 

all." 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

THE  CALIFORNIA  SITUATION 

Page 

Plate  1.  Marxist-Leninist  Book  List 142 

Plate  2.  National  Committee  of  Communist  Party,  U.S.A.  144,  145 

MAJOR  LEGAL  AND  LEGISLATIVE  PROBLEM 

Plate  1.  Masthead  and  Indicia  of  Communist  monthly,  Politi- 
cal Affairs 189 

IMPORTANT  COMMUNIST  FRONT  ACTIVITY 

Plate  1.  Schedule  of  Classes,  Los  Angeles  Communist  School 428 

Plate  2.  Schedule  of  Classes,  San  Francisco  Communist  School  429 
Plate  3.  Current  Marxist  Study  Course 462 

Plate  4.  Communist  School  Advertisement  in  College  News- 
papers    559 

FIRST  CONFERENCE  OF  STATE  LEGISLATIVE 
COMMITTEES 

Plate     1.  Marxist-Leninist  Classical  Texts 615 

Plate     2.  Five  Basic  Stalinist  Texts 616 

Plate     3.  Official  Communist  Manuals  and  Directives 618 

Plate     4.  Communist  Newspapers 619 

Plate     5.  Communist  Front  and  Apologist  Publications 620 

Plate     6.  Communist  Industrial  and  Labor  Relations  Agitation  621 

Plate     7.  Communist  Art  and  Culture  Publications 622 

Plate     8.  Communist  Youth  and  Veteran  Agitation 624 

Plate     9.  Commrnist  Racial  and  Religious  Agitation 625 

Plate  10.  Communist  Foreign  Affairs  Agitation 626 

Plate  11.  Communist  Political  and  Legislative  Agitation 627 

Plate  12.  Communist   Agitation    Campaign   Against   Mundt- 

Nixon  Bill 628 

Plate  13.  Communist  Defense  of  Hollywood  Reds 630 

Plate  14.  Communist  Smear  Attacks  on  Foes  of  Reds 631 

Plate  15.  Communist  Support  and  Defense  Agitation 632 

Plate  16.  Communist  Support  and  Defense  of  Soviet  Russia. _  633 

Plate  17.  Stalinist  Letterheads,  etc 635 

Plate  18.  Documentation    of    Herbert    K.    Sorrell    Stalinist 

Activity 636 

COMMUNITY  APPROACH 

Plate  1.  Sample  Advertisement  of  National  Advertising  Coun- 
cil Series 671 


"No  Communist,  no  matter  how  many  votes  he  should  secure 
in  a  notional  election,  could,  even  if  he  would,  become  President  of 
the  present  government.  When  a  Communist  heads  the  government 
of  the  United  States— and  that  day  will  come  just  as  surely  as  the 
sun  rises— the  government  will  not  be  a  capitalist  government  but  a 
Soviet  government,  and  behind  this  government  will  stand  the  Red 
army  to  enforce  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat.0 

Sworn  Statement  of 

WILLIAM  Z.  FOSTER 

Head  of  the  Communist  Party  in  the  United  States 


PREFACE 

With  the  publication  of  this  report  the  various  committees  of  the 
California  Legislature,  to  which  this  present  committee  is  the  direct 
successor,  have  completed  nearly  a  decade  of  work  in  investigating  and 
exposing  subversive  activities. 

The  chairman,  Senator  Jack  B.  Tenney  of  Los  Angeles,  continuously 
has  been  a  member  of  the  various  committees,  and  Senators  Hugh  M. 
Burns,  Fresno,  and  Nelson  S.  Dilworth,  Hemet,  have  served  since  1941. 

During  this  period  the  committees  on  Un-American  Activities  have 
contributed  materially  to  the  destruction,  impotence  or  suspension  of 
numerous  subversive  activities,  both  of  the  far  ideological  Right  and  the 
far  ideological  Left,  by  consistent  investigation,  research,  and  docu- 
mented exposure. 

The  committees  fearlessly  and  inclusively  have  exposed  inciters  and 
promoters  of  racial,  religious,  economic,  and  class  strife,  conducted  either 
in  the  interests  of  foreign  powers  or  by  exponents  of  native  totalitari- 
anism. 

COMMUNISM  THREATENS  HUMAN  FREEDOMS 

Today,  one  major  force  stands  out  as  a  distinct  and  ominous  threat 
to  human  liberty  and  freedom  everywhere.  That  force  is  the  brutal, 
inhumane,  antireligious,  antifreedom,  murderously  aggressive,  and 
deceptively  hypocritical  force  of  World  Communism. 

This  is  the  greatest  danger  that  human  liberty  and  freedom  as  we 
know  it  ever  has  faced  in  recorded  history. 

The  members  of  this  committee  have  become  convinced  over  the 
years  through  practical  experience  and  extensive  research  that  a  totally 
new,  effective  and  practical  approach  must  be  adopted  in  the  fields  of 
investigation,  legislation,  civic  affairs,  political  activity,  and  industrial 
relations  to  meet  the  threat  of  a  native  Fifth  Column  of  thousands  of 

(1) 


2  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

potential  traitors  in  a  period  of  cold  war  with  totalitarian  Soviet  Russia 
and  its  satellites. 

Anything  less  than  complete,  intelligent,  and  effective  action  to 
control  this  danger  at  home  would  be  a  crass  betrayal  of  responsibility 
that  would  lay  this  nation  open  to  chaos,  sabotage,  terror,  and  bloody 
holocaust  should  the  cold  war  explode  beyond  its  present  uneasy  balance 
into  active  hostility. 

Your  committee,  therefore,  during  this  year  of  challenge,  has  been 
concerned  in  this  report  less  with  individuals  and  their  activities  in  the 
revolving  orbits  of  the  Communist  solar  system  of  front  activity;  and 
more  with  the  broad  moral,  legal,  tactical,  strategic,  and  legislative 
points  at  issue — all  of  which  must  be  solved  successfully  and  decisively 
in  a  thoroughly  American  way  if  human  freedom  and  liberty  are  to 
survive  on  this  troubled  planet. 

The  committee  has  taken  particular  pains  to  compile  from  its  own 
reports  of  the  past  decade  and  from  the  most  scholarly  and  thoughtful 
analytical  and  research  material  available  to  it  from  responsible  public 
and  private  sources,  one  definitive  statement  to  prove  conclusively  the 
basic  truths  about  Communism  and  to  propose  positive  remedial 
measures. 

The  committee  has  been  aware  of  the  essential  truth  that  no  one 
phase  of  Communism  can  be  evaluated  or  documented  adequately  out 
of  context  from  the  whole  world  Communist  movement;  and  the  com- 
mittee has  provided  in  this  report  a  thorough  analysis  and  documenta- 
tion of  the  issues  involving  Communism  under  such  fundamental  head- 
ings as : 

The  World  Situation;  the  Legal  and  Legislative  Problem;  the 
Domestic  Situation;  the  California  Situation;  the  General  Community 
Problem;  Interstate  Legislative  Cooperation;  and  Citations  of  Com- 
munist Fronts  by  Official  Agencies. 

The  report  is  divided  into  two  parts :  Part  One  is  a  statement  of  the 
problem.  Part  Two  is  a  statement  of  what  can  and  must  be  done  to  meet 
the  problem. 

This  partial  report,  therefore,  is  a  twofold  challenge : 

First,  it  is  a  challenge  to  the  Legislature  and  to  the  people  of  Cali- 
fornia to  read  the  documented  proof,  to  understand  the  horror  of  the 
real  meaning  of  Communism  in  action,  to  abandon  complacency,  igno- 
rant apathy,  and  selfish  avoidance  of  responsibility,  and  to  stand  up  as 
one  united  people  to  defeat  Communism  with  every  resource  at  our 
command. 

Second,  this  partial  report  is  a  challenge  to  the  Communists,  the 
fellow-travelers,  the  apologists,  pinks,  confused  liberals,  innocents  and 
dupes,  to  read  in  this  report  from  the  sacred  texts  of  Marxism-Leninism- 
Stalinism,  what  Communism  really  believes  in  and  proposes  to  do ;  and 
then  either  stand  out  openly  and  honestly  and  unfurl  the  Hammer-and- 
Sickle  Red  flag  of  treachery  and  brutality  or  else  to  learn  as  the  Whit- 
aker  Chamberses  and  Elizabeth  Bentleys  and  Louis  Budenzes  learned 
the  sickening,  blood-stained  truth  of  the  Stalinist  betrayal  of  the  socialist 
revolutionaries'  dream  of  a  "workers  and  peasants  paradise." 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  3 

Your  committee  presents  this  partial  report  to  the  Legislature  and 
to  the  people  of  California  in  a  spirit  of  sincere  urgency.  Informed, 
positive,  intelligent  and  patriotic  action  is  needed  to  save  our  State, 
our  Nation,  and  our  world  from  totalitarian  enslavement. 

The  people  of  California  in  these  centennial  years  are  celebrating 
a  tradition  of  pioneer  courage  and  libertarianism  that  follows  merely 
by  a  year  the  centennial  celebration  of  the  founding  of  the  bloody  Com- 
munist world  conspiracy. 

This  committee  has  confidence  that  the  legislators  and  citizens  of 
the  Golden  State  have  cherished  their  inheritance  and  retained  its 
pioneer  virtues  so  genuinely  that  with  adequate  information  they  can 
and  will  act  together  to  defeat  the  insidious,  hypocritical  treachery  of 
traitorous  adherents  of  an  alien  and  inhumane  cause. 

In  tendering  this  serious  and  analytical  partial  report  to  the  Legis- 
lature and  to  the  people  of  California,  your  committee  is  reminded  of  a 
classical  anecdote  by  the  famed  legislator  and  humorist,  Senator  Josh 
Lee,  from  another  pioneer  state,  Oklahoma. 
Senator  Lee  often  told  this  story : 

A  Communist  soap-box  orator  was  harangueing  a  crowd  in  a 
public  park.  He  finally  came  to  the  familiar  promise : 

' '  Come  de  revolution,  you  '11  git  strawberries  and  cream. ' ' 
A  heckler  cut  in :  "I  don't  like  strawberries  and  cream !" 
The  soap-boxer  sputtered  in  exasperation;  and  repeated  his 
slogan. 

The  heckler  again  interrupted :  ' '  But,  I  don 't  like  strawberries 
and  cream!" 

The  soap-boxer  opened  his  mouth  twice.  Nothing  came  out.  He 
began  to  swell  up,  his  eyes  narrowed.  He  thrust  out  his  jaw  and 
finally  bellowed: 

"Come  de  revolution,  you'll  GIT  strawberries  and  cream — 
AND  LIKE  IT!" 

This  simple  story  cogently  illuminates  the  broad  issue  in  conflict 
in  the  world  today. 

We  of  California,  legislators,  officials,  citizens  of  all  classes,  creeds, 
national  origins  and  religious  faith,  can  not  determine  and  influence 
the  course  of  this  conflict  everywhere  in  the  world.  But  we  can  play  a 
vital  role  here  in  our  own  State. 

The  Senate  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities  believes  that  the 
fight  against  Communism,  "like  charity,"  begins  at  home.  As  a  major 
target  for  Communist  penetration,  sabotage,  confusion  and  potential 
revolutionary  chaos,  the  people  of  California  have  a  big  job  to  do.  This 
partial  report  presents  a  documented,  factual  analysis  of  how  big  that 
job  is. 


Part  One 

INTRODUCTION 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Senate 

The  Senate  Fact-Finding  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities 
in  California  was  created  by  Senate  Resolution  No.  75,  adopted  by  the 
Senate  June  20,  1947. 

The  resolution  is  as  follows : 

Senate  Resolution  No.  75 

"Whereas,  These  are  yet  times  of  public  danger.  Subversive  persons 
and  groups  are  endangering  our  domestic  unity  so  as  to  leave  us  unpre- 
pared to  resist  attack  from  without  or  within.  Under  color  of  the  protec- 
tion afforded  by  the  Bill  of  Rights  these  persons  and  groups  seek  to 
destroy  our  freedom  by  force,  violence,  threats,  undermining  and  sabo- 
tage, and  to  subject  us  to  the  domination  of  foreign  powers  and  ideol- 
ogies; and 

Whereas,  There  is  danger  that  the  ordeal  through  which  the  Country 
has  suffered  to  keep  the  pursuit  of  its  ideals  free  may  be  in  vain ;  and 

Whereas,  Persons  and  groups,  motivated  by  hatred  of  American 
ideals,  our  republican  form  of  government  and  democratic  processes, 
some  bound  together  by  allegiance  to  foreign  powers,  are  even  now  seek- 
ing to  achieve  by  subversion  what  we  have  so  valiantly  fought  to  sustain 
from  force ;  and 

Whereas,  California,  as  one  of  the  laboratories  of  this  great  Nation, 
may  profitably  study  the  problem  within  its  boundaries,  and  enact  perti- 
nent legislation  therein,  if  facts  are  available  therefor ;  and 

Whereas,  State  legislation  to  meet  the  problem  and  to  assist  law 
enforcement  officers  can  best  be  based  on  a  thorough  and  impartial 
investigation  by  a  competent  and  active  legislative  committee ;  now, 
therefore,  be  it 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  of  the  State  of  California,  That 

1.  The  Senate  Fact-Finding  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities 
is  hereby  created  and  authorized  and  directed  to  investigate,  ascertain, 
study  and  analyze  all  facts  directly  or  indirectly  relating  to  the  fore- 
going, to  the  activities  of  groups  and  organizations  whose  membership 
include  persons  who  are  members  of  organizations  who  have  as  their 
objectives,  or  part  of  their  objectives,  the  overthrow  of  the  government 
of  the  State  of  California  or  of  the  United  States  by  force  and  violence 
or  other  unlawful  means,  all  organizations  known  or  suspected  to  be 
dominated  or  controlled  by  a  foreign  power  which  activities  affect  the 
conduct  of  this  State  in  national  defense,  the  functioning  of  any  state 
agency,  unemployment  relief  and  other  forms  of  public  assistance,  educa- 
tional institutions  of  this  State  supported  in  whole  or  in  part  by  public 

(5) 


6  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

funds,  or  any  political  program,  or  which  may  affect  the  conversion  of 
the  State  from  a  wartime  economy  to  a  peacetime  economy  or  affect  the 
economic  and  social  problems  incidental  thereto,  including  but  not  limited 
to  the  operation,  effect,  administration,  enforcement  and  needed  revision 
of  any  and  all  laws  in  any  way  bearing  upon  or  relating  to  the  subject 
of  this  resolution,  and  to  report  thereon  to  the  Senate. 

2.  In  addition  to  the  foregoing,  the  Senate  Fact-Finding  Committee 
on  Un-American  Activities  is  authorized  and  directed  to  ascertain,  study 
and  analyze  all  facts  relating  to  the  activities  of  persons  and  groups 
known  or  suspected  to  be  dominated  or  controlled  by  a  foreign  power, 
and  who  owe  allegiance  thereto  because  of  religious,  racial,  political, 
ideological,  philosophical,  or  other  ties,  including  but  not  limited  to  the 
influence  upon  all  such  persons  and  groups  of  education,  economic  circum- 
stances, social  positions,  fraternal  and  casual  associations,  living  stand- 
ards, race,  religion,  political,  ancestry  and  the  activities  of  paid  provoca- 
tion and  any  other  factors  which  may  account  for  their  conduct  or  con- 
dition their  action,  as  well  as  the  operation,  effect,  administration,  enforce- 
ment and  needed  revision  of  any  and  all  laws  in  any  way  bearing  upon 
or  relating  to  the  subject  of  this  resolution,  and  to  report  thereon  to  the 
Senate. 

3.  The  committee  shall  consist  of  six  Members  of  the  Senate 
appointed  by  the  Committee  on  Rules  thereof.  Vacancies  occurring  or 
existing  in  the  membership  of  the  committee  shall  be  filled  by  the  appoint- 
ing power. 

4.  The  committee  is  authorized  to  act  during  this  session  of  the 
Legislature,  including  any  recess,  and  after  final  adjournment  until  the 
final  adjournment  of  the  1949  Regular  Session,  with  authority  to  file  its 
final  report  not  later  than  the  last  legislative  day  of  that  session. 

5.  The  committee  and  its  members  shall  have  and  exercise  all  of  the 
rights,  duties  and  powers  conferred  upon  investigating  committees  and 
their  members  by  the  provisions  of  the  Joint  Rules  of  the  Senate  and 
Assembly  and  the  Standing  Rules  of  the  Senate  as  they  are  adopted  and 
amended  from  time  to  time,  which  provisions  are  incorporated  herein  and 
made  applicable  to  this  committee  and  its  members. 

6.  The  committee  has  the  following  additional  powers  and  duties: 

(a)  To  select  a  chairman  and  a  vice  chairman  from  its  membership, 
and  to  employ  and  fix  the  compensation  of  a  secretary  and  such  clerical, 
investigative,  expert  and  technical  assistants  as  it  may  deem  necessary. 

(b)  To  contract  with  such  other  agencies,  public  or  private,  as  it 
deems  necessary  for  the  rendition  and  affording  of  such  services,  facili- 
ties, studies  and  reports  to  the  committee  as  will  best  assist  it  to  carry  out 
the  purposes  for  which  it  is  created. 

(c)  To  cooperate  with  and  secure  the  cooperation  of  county,  city, 
city  and  county,  and  other  local  law  enforcement  agencies  in  investigat- 
ing any  matter  within  the  scope  of  this  resolution  and  to  direct  the 
sheriff  of  any  county  to  serve  subpenas,  orders  and  other  process  issued 
by  the  committee. 

(d)  To  report  its  findings  and  recommendations  to  the  Legislature 
and  to  the  people  from  time  to  time  and  at  any  time,  not  later  than  herein 
provided. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  7 

(e)  To  do  any  and  all  other  things  necessary  or  convenient  to  enable 
it  fully  and  adequately  to  exercise  its  powers,  perform  its  duties,  and 
accomplish  the  objects  and  purposes  of  this  resolution. 

(f)  To  create  subcommittees  from  its  membership,  assigning  to  the 
subcommittee  any  study,  inquiry,  investigation  or  hearing  which  the 
committee  itself  has  authority  to  undertake  or  hold,  and  the  subcom- 
mittee for  the  purpose  of  this  assignment  shall  have  and  exercise  all  of 
the  powers  conferred  upon  the  committee  limited  by  the  express  terms  of 
the  resolution  or  resolutions  of  the  latter  defining  the  powers  and  duties 
of  the  subcommittee,  which  powers  may  be  withdrawn  or  terminated  at 
any  time  by  the  committee. 

(g)  To  adopt  and  from  time  to  time  amend  such  rules  governing  its 
procedure  (including  the  fixing  of  its  own  quorum  and  the  number  of 
votes  necessary  to  take  action  on  any  matter)  as  may  to  it  appear 
appropriate. 

(h)  To  hold  public  hearings  at  any  place  in  California  at  which 
hearings  the  people  are  to  have  an  opportunity  to  present  their  views  to 
the  committee. 

(i)  To  summon  and  subpena  witnesses,  require  the  production  of 
papers,  books,  accounts,  reports,  documents,  and  records  of  every  kind 
and  description,  to  issue  subpenas  and  to  take  all  necessary  means  to 
compel  the  attendance  of  witnesses  and  procure  testimony. 

7.  The  committee,  each  of  its  members,  and  any  representative  of 
the  committee  thereunto  authorized  by  the  committee  or  by  its  chairman, 
is  authorized  and  empowered  to  administer  oaths. 

8.  Every  department,  commission,  board,  agency,  officer  and 
employee  of  the  State  Government,  including  the  Legislative  Counsel, 
the  Attorney  General  and  their  subordinates,  and  of  any  political  sub- 
division, county,  city,  or  public  district  of  or  in  this  State  shall  furnish 
the  committee  and  any  subcommittee,  upon  request,  any  and  all  such 
assistance,  and  information,  records  and  documents  as  the  committee  or 
subcommittee  deems  proper  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  purposes  for 
which  the  committee  is  created. 

9.  The  committee,  or  a  subcommittee  or  the  chairman  when  author- 
ized by  a  majority  vote  of  the  entire  committee,  may  meet  outside  the 
State  with  similar  committees  of  Congress  or  of  the  several  states. 

10.  The  sum  of  thirty  thousand  dollars  ($30,000) ,  or  as  much  thereof 
as  may  be  necessary,  is  hereby  made  available  from  the  Contingent  Fund 
of  the  Senate  for  the  expenses  of  the  committee  and  its  members  and  for 
any  charges,  expenses  or  claims  it  may  incur  under  this  resolution,  to 
be  paid  from  said  Contingent  Fund,  and  disbursed,  after  certification  by 
the  chairman  of  the  committee,  upon  warrants  drawn  by  the  State 
Controller  upon  the  State  Treasurer. 

Organization  op  the  Committee 

Pursuant  to  Senate  Resolution  No.  75,  the  Senate  Committee  on 
Rules  appointed  Senators  Hugh  M.  Burns,  of  Fresno  County ;  Nelson  S. 
Dilworth,  of  Riverside  County;  Senator  Fred  II.  Kraft,  of  San  Diego 
County ;  Senator  Louis  G.  Sutton,  of  Tehama,  Glenn  and  Colusa  Coun- 
ties ;  Clyde  A.  Watson,  of  Orange  County ;  and  Jack  B.  Tenney,  of  Los 
Angeles  County. 


8  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

At  the  committee's  organizational  meeting,  Senator  Jack  B.  Tenney 
was  elected  chairman.  Senator  Hugh  M.  Burns  was  elected  vice  chairman. 
Mrs.  Linnie  Tenney  was  elected  secretary  without  compensation. 

The  committee  has  attempted  to  continue  the  work  of  similar  com- 
mittees functioning  by  authority  of  the  Legislature  since  1941.  The 
selection  of  Senator  Jack  B.  Tenney,  who  has  headed  the  previous  com- 
mittees, as  chairman,  insured  continuity  of  investigations  in  the  field 
of  subversive  activity. 

The  committee,  from  time  to  time,  employed  special  counsel  and 
other  qualified  expert  research  and  investigative  staff  personnel. 

The  committee  is  indebted  to  the  California  antisubversive  public 
relations  firm  of  Jacoby  &  Gibbons  and  Associates  for  permission  to 
reproduce  their  collection  of  Communist  and  Communist-front  agitation 
and  propaganda  publications  on  Pages  615-636  of  this  report;  and 
to  the  California  research  organization,  John  B.  Knight  Company,  for 
permission  to  publish  the  results  of  a  public  opinion  survey  taken  by  that 
organization  for  its  own  use  and  that  of  its  clients  without  any  knowledge 
or  request  by  this  committee,  on  Pages  684-686  of  this  report. 

In  the  interim  since  publication  of  our  1948  Fourth  Report,  the  com- 
mittee has  held  public  hearings  in  Los  Angeles,  Oakland,  Sacramento  and 
San  Diego;  in  addition  to  a  number  of  executive  meetings,  and  public 
meetings  in  Los  Angeles  and  San  Francisco  with  the  Southern  California 
and  Northern  California  Citizens  Advisory  Committees  to  the  Senate 
Fact-Fincling  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities. 

Your  committee  also  played  a  prominent  role  in  initiating  the 
first  conference  in  the  United  States  of  state  legislative  committees  on 
un-American  activities  and  representatives  of  governors  and  legislatures 
interested  in  establishing  such  committees.  This  conference  was  held  in 
Los  Angeles  September  20-21,  1948 ;  and  is  reported  in  considerable 
detail  on  Pages  599-648  of  this  report. 

In  addition,  as  has  been  discussed  in  the  introduction  to  this  report, 
your  committee  adopted  a  new  approach  to  the  entire  problem  of  sub- 
versive activities  and  antisubversive  legislation  by  conducting  a  thorough 
study,  assisted  by  its  staff  and  qualified  research  experts,  with  valuable 
assistance  from  many  official  agencies  of  both  the  Federal  and  State 
Governments,  and  particularly  the  California  Legislative  Counsel,  Fred 
B.  Wood,  and  his  staff;  and  from  the  citizens  advisory  committees. 

Appreciation  and  Acknowledgment 
The  committee  wishes  to  express  its  deep  gratitude  to  the  many  indi- 
viduals and  organizations  who  have  assisted  the  committee  with  its 
extremely  difficult  task.  It  would  be  impossible  to  list  the  names  of  all 
these  individuals  and  organizations  in  this  report,  but  the  committee 
extends  its  thanks  and  acknowledgment  to  each  of  them. 

The  city  and  county  officials  of  Los  Angeles,  Sacramento,  San  Diego, 
and  San  Francisco  were  courteous  and  cooperative.  The  California  high- 
way authorities  and  members  were  helpful  on  all  occasions.  Great  assist- 
ance was  given  the  committee  and  its  attaches  by  the  sheriff's  staff  and 
the  city  police  department  in  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles. 

The  committee  is  deeply  indebted  to  its  staff.  To  those  anonymous, 
who  for  obvious  reasons,  must  yet  remain  unnamed,  the  committee  extends 
its  thanks  for  efforts  expended  and  assignments  accomplished. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  9 

The  committee  is  deeply  appreciative  of  the  work  of  Mrs.  Linnie 
Tenney,  who  has  served  as  committee  secretary  without  compensation. 
For  the  many  long  hours  spent  in  transcribing  the  stenographic  notes 
of  this  report,  the  committee  extends  its  gratitude. 

The  participation  of  the  many  patriotic,  fraternal,  civic  and  service 
organizations  represented  in  the  Citizen's  Advisory  Committee,  men- 
tioned elsewhere  in  this  report,  indicates  the  splendid  cooperation  and 
assistance  tendered  this  committee  by  such  groups. 

The  majority  of  newspapers  of  California,  as  in  the  past,  have  been 
cooperative,  fair  and  accurate  in  reporting  the  committee 's  activities. 

The  Hearst  papers — the  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles  Examiners, 
San  Francisco  Call-Bulletin,  Los  Angeles  Herald-Express  and  the  Oak- 
land Post-Enquirer — the  Los  Angeles  Times,  the  Oakland  Tribune,  the 
McClatchy  papers,  Sacramento  Bee,  Fresno  Bee,  and  the  Modesto  Bee, 
and  the  Hollywood  Citizen  News,  have  been  in  the  forefront  of  news- 
papers representing  the  finest  in  patriotism  and  understanding  of  Amer- 
ica's  greatest  menace.  This  same  statement  can  be  made  for  the  over- 
whelming majority  of  California's  rural  newspapers. 

The  committee  also  is  appreciative  of  the  highly  technical  and  expert 
analysis  and  refutation  by  the  antisubversive  newsletters,  Alert,  pub- 
lished in  Los  Angeles,  and  Counter -Attack,  published  in  New  York,  of 
Communist  and  other  attacks  and  smear  campaigns  against  the  com- 
mittee; and  also  of  similar  editorial  expression  by  official  publications 
and  journals  of  business,  labor,  veteran,  fraternal,  service  club,  church 
and  civic  organizations.  The  staunch  Americanism  of  our  state's  women's 
organizations  has  been  particularly  heartening  to  this  committee. 

The  committee  also  desires  to  express  appreciation  to  the  Sacramento 
Union,  which,  although  it  has  not  abandoned  its  editorial  antagonism  to 
the  members  of  this  committee,  has  in  the  past  year  turned  to  effective 
and  repeated  exposure  and  criticism  of  Communist  treachery. 

The  Los  Angeles  Daily  News,  the  San  Francisco  Chronicle  and  the 
San  Francisco  News  have  continued  to  misrepresent,  misreport  and  attack 
falsely  in  editorial  comment  the  committee  and  its  reports.  The  attitude 
of  these  newspapers  has  been  characterized  by  an  almost  total  unwill- 
ingness to  cite  a  single  specific  criticism  or  refutation  of  any  specific 
hearings  or  reports  by  this  committee,  while  blithely  publishing  untruths, 
half-truths  and  vague,  generalized  attacks  upon  the  committee  and  upon 
public  officials  who  have  supported  the  committee  in  its  work.  These 
newspapers  also  have  bleakly  refused  to  correct,  retract  or  repair  the 
damage  done. 

Know  Your  Enemy 

The  California  Senate  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities  has 
in  its  possession  or  available  to  it  for  reference  purposes  a  mammoth 
collection  and  compilation  of  investigations,  analysis,  predictions  and 
warnings  about  Communism,  extending  back  into  the  last  century. 

The  essence  of  all  these  warnings  has  been:  "Know  your  enemy!" 
It  would  be  impossible  to  do  justice  by  name  to  all  the  individuals 
and  organizations  that  have  issued  specific  factual  warnings  about  the 
threat  and  danger  of  Communism. 


10  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

Among  them  have  been  numerous  congressional  and  state  legislative 
committees,  city,  county  and  school  board  special  committees,  numerous 
public  figures,  the  leaders,  boards  and  committees  of  veteran,  patriotic, 
historical,  civic,  fraternal,  business,  labor,  church,  professional  and 
service  organizations  and  institutions. 

Newspaper,  magazine  and  book  authors  and  publishers,  as  well  as 
columnists,  radio  commentators  and  special  radio  broadcasts  have  exposed 
Marxism-Leninism  and  warned  against  Communism's  threat  to  liberty 
and  freedom. 

The  great  tragedy  of  the  present  plight  of  humanity  in  a  postwar 
troubled  world  in  which  there  is  no  peace  and  no  sign  of  peace,  is  the 
abysmal,  pathetic  failure  of  a  dangerously  large  number  of  leaders  and 
citizens  of  nations  throughout  the  world  to  heed  these  warnings.  Such 
failure  has  brought  about  their  own  destruction. 

The  peoples  of  the  nations  that  have  been  swept  ruthlessly  behind 
the  Iron  Curtain  failed  to  heed  the  warnings.  They  laughed  at  "red- 
baiters"  and  said  that  alarmed  prophecy  of  the  ominous  nature  of  the 
brazen  assertions  of  Marxism-Leninism  was  the  work  of  frightened 
people  who  "see  a  Communist  under  every  bed." 

It  is  a  tragic  and  sardonic  twist  of  fate  that  instead  of  being  under 
beds — where  there  was  slight  prospect  of  proselyting  for  the  violent 
proletarian  revolution — the  Communists  in  those  nations  were  in  their 
governments,  in  their  schools,  in  their  parliaments,  in  their  professions, 
in  their  trade  unions,  in  their  business  institutions,  in  their  press  and 
other  media  for  propaganda,  in  their  churches,  in  their  factories,  in  their 
minority  groups  and  in  their  courts  and  law  enforcement  agencies. 

Today,  millions  of  people  who  laughed  at  the  "red-baiters"  are 
in  their  graves  or  in  concentration  camps  or  in  slave  labor  battalions. 
Those  who  still  live  would  give  their  last  drop  of  blood  today  for  another 
chance  to  heed  the  warnings  they  disregarded  in  selfish  preoccupation 
with  their  own  affairs,  in  casual  contempt  for  "a  handful  of  red  crack- 
pots'' and  in  complacent  toleration  of  traitors. 

AN  UNHEEDED  WARNING 

The  members  of  this  committee  remember  well  the  sarcastic  scorn, 
the  contemptuous  ridicule,  the  accusations  of  Fascist-war -mongering, 
and  the  doubts  as  to  our  sanity,  that  were  heaped  upon  this  committee 
in  a  flow  of  vituperation  by  the  Communists  and  their  apologists  and 
appeasers  when  your  committee,  in  its  1945  Report,  published  April  16, 
1945,  before  the  end  of  World  War  II,  made  this  prophetic  statement : 

As  the  Hooked  Cross  of  Nazi  Germany  is  pounded  into  the  dust  by  the  forward 
march  of  allied  armies,  the  shadow  of  the  Hammer  and  Sickle  of  Russian  Communism 
falls  across  a  devastated  and  war-torn  Europe. 

Tito  dominates  Yugoslavia. 

Ercoli  ^Palmiro  Togliatti)   is  back  in  Italy. 

Thorez  has  returned  to  France. 

The  Communists  of  Greece,  Holland  and  Belgium  are  organizing. 

A  Moscow  dominated  "Free  Germany  Committee"  awaits  Stalin's  orders. 

A  "Free  Polish  Committee,"  Communist-inspired  and  dominated,  is  taking  over 
Poland. 

Latvia,  Estonia  and  Lithuania  are  being  reannexed  to  the  Soviet  Union. 

Every  anti-Communist  is  being  liquidated  by  the  Communists  as  a  Fascist." 
Stalin  will  not  permit  an  "anti-Communist"  or  unfriendly  government  to  exist  in  post- 
war Europe. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  11 

The  shadow  creeps  across  India,  inner  Mongolia  and  into  struggling  China. 

Can  we  depend  on  international  pacts? 

A  10-year  nonaggression  pact  between  the  U.S.S.R.  and  Poland  was  signed  on 
July  25,  1932  and  extended  for  10  years  May  5,  1935.  Soviet  troops  invaded  Poland 
September  11,  1989. 

Nonaggression  pacts  were  solemnly  signed  between  the  U.S.S.R.,  Latvia,  Estonia 
and  Lithuania.  All  of  these  pacts  were  violated  by  an  invasion  of  these  countries  by 
Soviet  troops  ivhile  the  pacts  were  in  full  force  and  effect  *   *   * 

*  *  *  A  nonaggression  pact  with  Finland  was  extended  for  10  years  April  7, 
1934.  Soviet  troops  invaded  Finland  November  29,  1939.  (Second  Report,  Un-American 
Activities  in  California,  1945,  p.  210.) 

This  committee  has  issued  numerous  similar  warnings  over  the  years ; 
and  it  has  charted  and  predicted  the  course  of  Marxist-Leninist  treachery 
and  conspiracy  at  home  and  abroad  with  unfailing  accuracy. 

The  committee  consistently  has  been  smeared,  vilified,  abused  and 
misrepresented  by  the  Communist  propaganda  and  agitation  experts — 
and  by  the  ignorant  and  gullible  who  will  not  take  the  time  to  read  a 
detailed,  documented,  specific  report,  but  who  will  accept  as  gospel  truth 
the  wild,  vague  generalities  hurled  by  the  Communists  against  their 
critics  with  hypocritical  pronouncements  of  enthusiasm  for  civil  rights. 

The  factual  record  has  proved  the  committee's  reports  truthful  and 
accurate  and  the  Communist  propagandists  and  apologists  have  been 
proved  false  and  dishonest. 

The  committee  calls  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  and  the  people 
of  California  to  the  tabulated  historical  record  of  Communist  aggression 
cited  on  Pages  102-128  of  this  report,  which  confirms  the  precisely 
accurate  nature  of  the  committee 's  1945  analysis. 

Our  1945  prediction  ivas  not  a  casual  one!  It  was  a  positive  state- 
ment, based  on  documented,  clear  analysis  of  Marxism-Leninism- 
Stalinism  by  your  committee — in  a  period  when  the  gullible,  the  hopeful 
and  the  blind,  were  unable  to  see  the  distinction  between  Communism  as 
an  ally  and  the  courageous  people  of  Russia  who  fought  on  our  side 
against  Hitler. 

"We  predicted  that  the  bloody  masters  of  the  Kremlin,  undeviatingly 
true  to  the  murderous  violent  revolutionary  theories  of  Marxism- 
Leninism-Stalinism,  would  betray  the  people 's  dream  of  peace  and  would 
launch  a  bloody,  totalitarian  aggression  while  their  agents  in  every 
country,  loyal  to  Moscow  and  traitors  to  their  own  lands,  would  scheme 
to  hoodwink  and  confuse  those  who  should  have  stood  up  for  freedom 
and  liberty  everywhere  in  the  postwar  world. 

History's  tragic  pages  since  1945  record  and  confirm  the  inevitable 
and  inescapable  truths  cited  and  predicted  by  your  committee. 

The  bloody  backs  of  slave-laborers,  the  tortured  eyes  of  Cardinal 
Mindszenty,  the  mindless  cackling  of  drugged  and  beaten  ministers  of 
the  Gospel,  the  "missing"  Jewish  intellectuals  of  Poland,  Rumania  and 
Russia,  itself,  the  wrecked  offices  of  free  labor  unions,  the  smashed  bodies 
of  the  Jan  Masaryks,  the  supine  crawlings  of  the  Shostakoviches,  the  lost 
freedoms  of  millions,  the  crushing,  ominous  knock  of  the  secret  police  on 
family  doors,  the  verboten  newspapers,  radios  and  churches,  all  call  from 
a  continent  to  the  people  of  America : 

"Beware — Know  Your  Enemy!" 


THE  WORLD  SITUATION 

"The  presenf  rulers  of  the  capitalist  world  are  but  temporary  rulers.  The 
proletariat  is  the  real  master,  tomorrow's  master  of  the  world.  And  it  must  enter 
upon  its  historical  rights,  take  into  its  hands  the  reins  of  government  in  every 
country  all  over  the  world.  We  are  disciples  of  Marx  and  Engels,  Lenin  and 
Stalin.  We  should  be  worthy  of  our  great  leaders.  With  Stalin  at  their  head, 
the  millions  of  our  political  army,  overcoming  all  difficulties  and  courageously 
breaking  through  all  barriers  must  and  will  level  to  the  ground  the  fortress  of 
capitalism  and  achieve  the  victory  of  socialism  throughout  the  whole  world!" 

GEORGE  DIMITROFF,  Genera/  Secretary  of  the  Communist  International; 
Speech,  7th  World  Congress,  Moscow,  August  2,  1935 


The  world  today  is  engaged  in  a  struggle  called  the  cold  war.  This 
conflict  is  fundamental  and  transcends  all  others.  Its  outcome  will 
determine  the  fate  of  freedom,  liberty  and  human  progress  for  centuries 
to  come. 

The  contest  is  sharply  defined. 

On  one  side  are  the  nations  and  people  of  the  world  who  want  to 
work  together  fairly  and  peacefully  to  achieve  progress  for  all  human 
beings  in  a  complicated  industrial  age  and  still  preserve  the  freedoms 
and  liberties  for  which  humanity  has  struggled  through  the  centuries. 

On  the  other  side  is  the  cold,  materialistic,  brutal,  totalitarian  expan- 
sion of  world  Communism,  based  on  the  pseudo-science  of  Marxism- 
Leninism-Stalinism. 

California  is  placed  in  a  crucial  position  in  this  struggle.  It  is 
strategically,  geographically,  politically  and  economically  one  of  the 
half-dozen  key  states  in  the  48  United  States  of  America  that  stand 
together  as  the  home  of  a  freedom  and  liberty  never  known  before  in 
history  and  as  an  inspiration  to  the  free  peoples  of  the  world. 

A  sound  consideration  for  the  proper  placing  in  perspective  of  all 
factors  bearing  upon  the  place  of  California  and  its  people  in  the  cold 
war  demands  a  clear  statement  of  the  world  situation. 

Your  committee  has  devoted  long  and  careful  study  to  all  of  the 
important  reports  and  pronouncements  on  this  problem  by  official 
agencies  of  our  government.  This  has  been  done  because  your  committee 
has  not  had  the  funds  or  the  facilities  to  conduct  complete  and  independ- 
ent investigations  of  this  complicated  subject,  whose  scope  and  ramifica- 
tions extend  far  beyond  the  boundaries  of  our  State  and  Nation. 

Your  committee  finds  that  one  of  the  most  conspicuously  intelligent, 
useful  and  heartening  statements  of  the  major  issues  of  fact  and  theory 
that  are  involved  in  the  conflict  that  has  divided  the  world  today  has 
been  the  report  of  Subcommittee  No.  5  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Affairs  of  the  TJ.  S.  Congress,  on  "The  Strategy  and  Tactics  of  World 
Communism," 

(12) 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  13 

This  report,  published  in  1948,  has  been  adapted  and  revised  by 
your  committee,  with  appropriate  deletions,  revisions  and  additions,  to 
present  to  the  Legislature  and  to  the  people  of  California  a  definitive 
statement  of  the  points  of  conflict  that  prevail  on  both  sides  of  the  cold  war 
and  a  warm  reaffirmation  of  the  morality,  justice,  integrity  and  superi- 
ority of  our  beliefs  and  principles,  to  which  "all  men  of  good  will  can 
repair." 

WHAT  DOES  RUSSIA  WANT  ? 

No  subject  has  been  of  deeper  concern  to  the  Government  and  the 
people  of  the  United  States  for  the  last  few  years  than  that  of  Com- 
munism. The  question  "What  does  Communist  Russia  want?"  has  been 
asked  and  asked  again,  and  has  received  many  answers. 

During  the  recent  World  War  we  had  accepted,  perforce,  that  Rus- 
sia was  fighting  on  our  side,  and  was  even  bearing  the  brunt  of  the  fight. 
We  had  gone  beyond  this  and  believed  that  the  Soviet  state  was  allied  to 
us  in  objectives  beyond  the  defeat  of  Hitler;  that  it  was  altogether 
friendly.  Promptly  after  the  war  a  transition  began,  as  Soviet  and  Com- 
munist actions  contrary  to  our  ideals  or  expectations  began  to  disturb  us. 

Since  the  war  Communist  tactics  in  the  countries  of  eastern  Europe 
have  appeared  to  us  to  violate  agreements  made  concerning  freedom  and 
democracy  in  those  countries. 

Revelations  in  Canada  and  Britain  as  well  as  in  the  United  States 
have  illustrated  the  Communist  practice  of  espionage  in  a  scarcely 
friendly  fashion. 

Labor  troubles  under  Communist  stimulation  have  increased  the 
difficulties  of  many  countries  in  facing  postwar  problems  of  economic 
recovery. 

The  Soviet  has  used  its  veto  in  the  Security  Council  of  the  United 
Nations  to  block  all  action  by  the  Council  which  might  prejudice  the 
cause  of  Communism.  The  Soviet  has  used  its  position  in  Germany  under 
Potsdam  to  interfere  with  any  method  of  rehabilitation  that  we  can 
understand. 

Both  the  Soviet  and  the  Communist  Parties  have  formally  announced 
their  opposition  to  the  project  for  European  recovery,  and  have  given 
notice  that  they  will  resort  to  all  means  to  interfere  with  its  success. 

Communist  propaganda,  both  from  Soviet  sources  such  as  the  Mos- 
cow radio  and  from  Communist  sources  in  all  countries,  has  resorted  to 
a  standard  line  of  attack  upon  the  objectives  of  the  United  States,  of 
contempt  for  American  culture,  and  of  uninhibited  abuse  and  vitupira- 
tion. 

Finally,  Communists  throughout  the  world,  and  the  U.  S.  Communist 
leaders,  have  revived  the  Marxist ' '  anti-imperialist  war ' '  party  line ;  and 
openly  are  proclaiming  their  intention  to  promote  treason  and  civil  war 
in  the  event  of  any  conflict  with  Soviet  Russia. 

All  this  has  meant  that  the  foreign  policy  of  the  United  States  has 
increasingly  found  that  Communism  is  a  factor  in  every  problem  or 
situation.  Communism,  in  its  objectives,  its  strategy,  and  its  practical 
working  methods  or  tactics  thereby  assumes  top  priority  for  the  attention 
of  all  Americans. 


14  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

Communism  raised  a  question  100  years  ago  that  has  been  avoided 
and  evaded  too  dangerously  in  the  past  and  which  must  be  faced  with 
frank  recognition  of  all  its  implications  in  the  troubled  future. 

Part  I — A  Specter  Is  Haunting  Europe 

"A  specter  is  haunting  Europe."  This  announcement  was  made  a 
hundred  years  ago.  It  was  made  by  the  Communist  League,  in  the  Mani- 
festo written  by  Karl  Marx  and  Friedrich  Engels. 

That  specter  now  haunts  the  whole  world.  It  has  changed  in  charac- 
ter, it  has  gathered  force,  and  it  has  won  victories.  Yet  today  as  a  hundred 
years  ago  it  still  is  an  unfulfilled  dream.  The  fact  that  it  is  a  hundred 
years  old,  and  that  its  expectations  are  not  yet  fulfilled  invites  doubt 
concerning  its  prophecies. 

But  we  are  not  living  in  an  easy  age  when  to  doubt  that  others  have 
the  truth  is  sufficient.  We  are  driven  to  affirmation,  in  acts  if  not  in 
words  or  thoughts.  So  far  as  our  affirmations  differ  from  theirs,  as 
expressed  in  action  most  of  all,  we  need  to  know  the  differences. 

If  we  and  the  Communists  are  working  at  cross-purposes  in  the 
same  world  it  is  well  to  look  at  where  and  how  our  purposes  cross  theirs. 
When  the  purposes  meet  and  cross,  we  must  look  to  see  whether  it  is 
their  purpose  or  ours  that  is  frustrated.  If  it  is  ours,  we  must  decide 
what  is  to  be  done. 

We  have  turned  our  backs  to  these  problems  sometimes  in  the  past. 
There  have  been  times,  as  at  the  bottom  of  the  world  depression, 
when  it  was  not  easy  to  be  sure  that  Communism  would  fail,  that  we 
had  the  better  ease.  There  have  been  other  times  when  the  faults  and 
weaknesses  of  Communism,  and  its  archaic  goals,  have  not  been  apparent, 
and  we  forgot  them.  As  a  result  of  this  we  have  not  always  been  as 
conscious  of  the  difference  between  Communism  and  our  own  democracy 
as  is  necessary  for  clear-headed  action. 

Today  we  know  that  100  years  have  not  brought  the  fulfillment  of 
Communist  prognostications.  But  they  have  brought  a  time,  now,  when 
Communism  cannot  be  disregarded. 

Seventy-seven  years  ago  Communists  led  a  revolt  that  succeeded  in 
controlling  the  City  of  Paris  for  several  months.  The  strength  of  Com- 
munism, or  of  elements  closely  allied  to  it,  has  been  substantial  at  least 
since  then. 

Forty-four  years  ago  Lenin  split  the  Social-Democratic  Party  of 
Russia  into  Bolsheviks  and  Mensheviks,  with  the  Bolsheviks  accepting 
that  rule  of  iron  discipline  that  the  Communists  call  democracy. 

Thirty  years  ago  Lenin  engineered  the  seizure  of  power  in  Russia 
from  the  duly  elected  representatives  of  the  people  (and  not  from  the 
Csar,  as  the  Communists  would  like  many  uninformed  people  to  believe), 
known  as  the  October  Revolution.  After  four  years  of  civil  wars  Russia 
became  consolidated  as  the  stronghold  of  Communism.  Twenty-seven 
years  ago  Communist  Russia  went  through  the  depths  of  famine  and 
economic  collapse.  Seventeen  years  ago  again  there  was  famine  induced 
by  the  drive  for  collectivization.  Six  and  a  half  years  ago  invasion 
brought  once  more  a  test  close  to  the  breaking  point.  That  they  passed 
the  last  test  only  with  our  aid  should  not  make  us  underestimate  what 
they  did  themselves. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  15 

The  last  test,  with  its  climax  at  Stalingrad  just  six  years  ago, 
brought  an  alliance  between  us.  The  might  and  resourcefulness  and  the 
excesses  of  the  Nazi  threat  cemented  that  alliance  for  the  time.  It  was 
called  at  one  time  a  "grand  alliance"  and  later  "the  strange  alliance." 
"We  know  now  it  was  an  overrated  ' '  alliance. ' ' 

Six  years  ago  we  were  told  the  specter  had  been  laid,  that  the 
Soviet  and  the  Communists  were  friends  of  Democracy.  Cordell  Hull, 
addressing  Congress  on  November  18,  1943,  declared : 

As  the  provisions  of  the  four-nation  declaration  are  carried  into  effect  there 
will  no  longer  be  need  for  spheres  of  influence,  for  alliances,  for  balance  of  power 
or  any  other  of  the  special  arrangements  through  which,  in  the  unhappy  past,  the 
nations  strove  to  safeguard  their  security  or  to  promote  their  interests. 

Five  years  ago  Franklin  Koosevelt,  addressing  the  Foreign  Policy 
Association  on  October  21,  1944,  expressed  the  same  hope. 

The  very  fact  that  we  are  now  at  work  on  the  organization  of  the  peace  proves 
that  the  great  nations  are  committed  to  trust  in  each  other. 

Four  years  ago  the  Yalta  Declaration  on  February  17,  1945,  over 
the  signatures  of  President  Roosevelt,  Marshal  Stalin,  and  Prime 
Minister  Churchill,  said : 

By  this  declaration  we  reaffirm  our  faith  in  the  principles  of  the  Atlantic  Charter, 
our  pledge  in  the  declaration  by  the  United  Nations  and  our  determination  to  build 
in  cooperation  with  other  peace-loving  nations  world  order  under  law,  dedicated  to 
peace,  security,  freedom,  and  general  well-being  of  all  mankind. 

SOVIET  TACTICS  NOT  PEACEFUL 

Since  then  it  has  become  clear,  first,  that  Soviet  tactics  are  not  free 
and  peaceful  as  we  understand  those  terms.  The  reasons  for  this  have 
been  explored  and  discussed  by  hundreds  of  authors,  most  notably  by 
the  author  who  signed  himself  as  "X"  in  Foreign  Affairs,  July  1947. 

These  writers  have  reached  a  great  variety  of  tentative  conclusions, 
and  have  not  yet  brought  any  clear  agreement  concerning  Communist 
motives  and  Communist  action.  But  we  need  the  greatest  possible  pre- 
cision in  understanding  their  motives,  for  the  issue  is  no  less  than 
whether  or  not  war  may  be  necessary.  Therefore,  it  must  be  accepted 
as  a  target  for  the  American  mind,  to  understand  with  the  greatest 
exactness  the  motives  and  the  directions  of  Soviet  and  Communist  action. 

We  must  evaluate  and  measure  their  effect  against  our  own  flexi- 
bility and  tolerance  and  against  the  minimum  requirements  of  strategic 
security  for  our  Nation  and  our  way  of  life.  We  must  judge,  at  risk, 
whether  it  really  is  possible  to  avoid  war,  and  also  to  avoid  regrettable 
appeasement. 

Today  it  is  clear  that  the  leaders  of  the  Soviet  Union  believe  that 
they  have  a  great  opportunity.  They  hope,  as  they  hoped  at  the  close 
of  the  First  World  War,  that  some  or  all  of  the  weakened  institutions 
of  Western  Europe  can  be  broken.  They  know  how  to  increase  the  strains, 
and  they  have  announced  that  they  will  use  all  means  to  do  so.  Neither 
they  nor  we  know  just  how  much  they  can  gain  by  their  drive  for  power. 
As  long  as  this  is  so  the  scope  of  ordinary  diplomacy  is  limited.  Treaties 
can  be  made  only  when  certain  premises  have  been  established.  But  the 
premises  on  which  treaties  can  be  made  do  not  exist  today,  for  both  sides 
now  expect  great  changes  in  the  very  near  future. 


16  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

When  Vishinski  in  September,  1947,  at  the  United  Nations  Assembly 
said  that — 

war  psychosis,  instigated  by  the  efforts  of  the  militarist  and  expansionist  circles 
of  certain  countries,  the  United  States  of  America  occupying  the  foremost  place 
among  them,  is  continually  spreading  and  assuming  all  the  more  menacing 
character — 

and  when  the  Cominform  Manifesto  said  that  appeasement  of  America 
would  be  as  dangerous  as  appeasement  of  Hitler,  the  basic  antagonism 
had  become  clear  if  not  before.  This  justified  Secretary  Marshall,  in 
his  Chicago  speech  on  November  18, 1947,  in  saying  as  he  did  : 

At  that  time  I  think  it  was  a  fact  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  had  as 
high  a  regard,  or  I  might  better  put  it,  appreciation,  for  the  Soviet  people  and  their 
sacrifices,  and  for  the  Soviet  Army  and  its  leaders,  as  they  held  for  any  other  people 
in  the  world.  But  today,  only  two  years  later,  we  are  charged  with  a  definite  hostility 
toward  the  Soviet  Union  and  its  people,  which  constitutes  a  complete  change  in  our 
attitude  since  the  summer  of  1945. 

I  recognize  this  effect.  I  would  not  characterize  it  as  hostile.  But  the  important 
question  is,  what  produced  this  tremendous  change  in  our  national  feeling  and  atti- 
tude? The  truth  as  I  see  it  is  that  from  the  termination  of  hostilities  down  to  the 
present  time  the  Soviet  Government  has  consistently  followed  a  course  which  was 
bound  to  arouse  the  resentment  of  our  people. 

In  the  interval  between  that  hopeful  time  when  we  considered  Com- 
munist Russia  freedom  loving  and  peace  loving,  and  this  time  when  we 
are  concerned  and  resentful,  there  were  many  efforts  to  explain  the 
Russian  past.  Some  tried  to  justify  the  hope  and  faith  of  good  behavior. 
There  were  many  other  efforts  to  explain  and  to  qualify  the  developing 
contrast  between  that  hope  and  harsh  realities.  Some  writers  pointed  out 
that  Russia  had  always  sought  expansion  in  certain  directions,  and  sug- 
gested that  for  the  Soviet  Government  to  seek  the  same  goals  was  only 
a  continuation  of  older  Russian  motives.  This  would  have  implied  that 
they  had  goals  of  expansion  indeed,  but  that  these  were  only  the  familiar 
goals  of  national  interest. 

Other  writers  explored  the  historical  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  Russia  in  order  to  exhibit  the  absence  of  any  fundamental 
conflict  of  interest  in  the  past.  Some  took  note  of  the  learned  theoretical 
discussions  of  Marxism  in  Moscow  to  explore  the  possibility  that  Russian 
leaders  were  no  longer  Marxist. 

The  abolition  of  the  Comintern  in  1943  was  hailed  by  some  as  mean- 
ing the  repudiation  of  world  revolution.  This  was  answered  by  others, 
with  arguments  that  the  Comintern  had  only  become  unnecessary,  and 
that  its  abolition  was  but  a  smoke  screen. 

Isolationist  or  Revolutionary  ? 
The  first  signs  that  Russia  might  be  an  obdurate  and  difficult  partner 
in  the  making  of  peace  led  some  to  explore  the  idea  that  Russia  was 
"isolationist,"  and  to  compare  the  reasons  for  Russian  isolationism  with 
those  for  American  isolationism  at  an  earlier  time.  The  difficulties  in 
negotiation  were  attributed  by  some  observers  to  the  simple  difficulties 
of  language,  and  to  the  fact  that  such  terms  as  "democracy"  or  "agree- 
ment in  principle"  do  not  mean  exactly  the  same  things  for  different 
peoples.  Arthur  Krock  of  the  New  York  Times  did  a  service  when  he 
explored  this  question  (April  23, 1946)  and  pointed  out  the  extraordinary 
competence  displayed  by  Soviet  diplomats  in  editing  the  English  texts 
of  their  own  statements. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  17 

An  illustration  of  how  confused  American  circles  became  in  the 
midst  of  this  transition  was  given  when  the  Soviet  paid  its  dues  in  the 
United  Nations  in  March,  1946,  and  it  was  taken  as  a  reassuring  sign  of 
good  faith  and  good  intentions.  Actually  this  sign  came  later  than 
Stalin's  speech  of  February  9,  1946,  and  Churchill's  speech  at  Fulton, 
Mo.,  March  5,  1946.  These  announced,  on  the  one  hand,  the  continued 
adherence  of  the  Soviet  Government  to  its  basic  doctrine  of  world  revo- 
lution, and  on  the  other  hand  the  dangers  that  this  would  mean  for  the 
United  States. 

If  all  of  the  speculations  concerning  S 'oviet -Communist  motives  and 
tactics  are  boiled  down,  we  may  find  a  certain  common  core.  This  com- 
mon core  must  include  all  that  is  demonstrated  to  be  significant  by  any 
one  of  the  many  lines  of  argument.  It  must  include  the  evidence  of  their 
actions,  on  the  simple  principle  that  actions  speak  better  than  words,  but 
it  must  include  evidence  of  their  words  also,  for  only  in  their  words  do 
we  find  an  explanation  of  why  they  do  not  always  act  the  same  in  what 
appear  to  us  to  be  similar  circumstances. 

We  mast  examine  further,  not  only  the  actions  of  the  Soviets  but 
also  the  actions  of  Communists  outside  the  Soviet  Union.  The  tools  and 
methods  available  to  the  Soviets  and  those  available  to  Communist  parties 
abroad  simply  afford  a  choice  of  means  to  the  same  ends. 

"We  must  examine  not  only  the  propaganda  and  agitation  of  Com- 
munists in  all  countries  but  the  economic  weapons  used  to  weaken  coun- 
tries that  are  under  attack,  and  the  political  tactics  used  to  weaken  the 
structure  of  free  societies,  and  the  psychological  arts  for  confusing  their 
opponents  and  attracting  converts. 

We  must  take  evidence  from  a  broader  range  in  time  than  any  few 
years  or  we  will  have  no  guard  against  thinking  of  them  as  liberal  and 
progressive  as  in  1935-39,  or  proNazi  as  in  1939-41. 

Finally,  we  must  take  note  of  the  relation  of  tactics  to  strategy  and 
of  strategy  to  theory,  as  they  themselves  see  these  relations. 

Any  less  comprehensive  approach  neglects  essential  evidence.  The 
multitude  of  explanations  for  Communist  policy  has  certain  common 
characteristics.  Each  of  the  explanations  is  logical  within  the  scope  of 
the  evidence  admitted.  Most  of  them  are  open  to  contradiction  on  the 
basis  of  broader  evidence. 

SOVIET  AND  COMMUNIST  POLICY 

An  examination  of  all  aspects  of  Soviet  and  Communist  policy  and 
tactics  leads  directly  to  some  simple  conclusions. 

1.  The  Communists  have  one  goal — world  revolution. 

2.  They  assume  that  the  revolution  will  be  violent. 

3.  They  are  incapable  of  accepting  the  idea  that  peace  can  endure 
from  now  on,  and  they  expect  one  more  catastrophic  war. 

4.  The  Soviet  Union  is  regarded  as  the  main  force  of  the  revolution. 

5.  They  fear  a  coalition  against  the  Soviet  Union. 

6.  They  therefore  fear  reconstruction  or  federation  in  the  non- 
Communist  world. 

7.  They  utilize  the  most  modern  and  effective  means  of  cold  war- 
fare to  strengthen  their  own  forces  and  to  weaken  all  others. 


18  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

8.  The  Communist  parties  outside  the  Soviet  Union  are  junior 
partners  or  auxiliaries. 

9.  The  tactics  are  based  upon  a  definite  theory,  and  the  central 
propositions  of  that  theory  do  not  change. 

10.  The  division  of  Europe  and  Asia  between  the  victors  of  World 
"War  II  is  to  be  settled  by  power  politics  and  not  by  negotiation. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  report  to  summarize  the  evidence,  explain 
the  logical  relationships  involved,  and  to  justify  the  conclusions  stated. 

Part  II.     The  Theory  and  Practice  of  Communism 
a.  communist  reliance  upon  theory 

Theory  is  often  an  unwelcome  term,  taken  as  suggestive  of  unreality 
and  vagueness.  There  are  people  occasionally  in  the  course  of  history, 
however,  to  whom  theory  is  a  matter  of  great  seriousness,  and  who  act 
in  accordance  with  what  they  call  their  theory.  The  Communists  revel 
in  theory. 

Americans  habitually  neglect,  or  even  forget,  that  there  is  any  theory 
behind  their  own  institutions.  Communists  never  forget  their  theoretical 
principles.  In  part  this  difference  is  a  matter  of  age,  for  younger  move- 
ments are  always  more  conscious  of  theory  than  older  ones.  Also  in  part 
it  reflects  the  idea  that  Marxism  is  a  science.  They  regard  their  strategy 
and  tactics  as  derivatives  from  their  theory,  by  strictly  logical  deduction. 

Without  a  revolutionary  theory,  there  cannot  be  a  revolutionary  movement. 
(Stalin,  Leninism,  p.  94,  lecture  at  Sverdlov  University,  April  1924.) 

Only  a  party  guided  by  an  advanced  theory  can  act  as  a  vanguard  in  the  fight. 
(Lenin,  quoted  by  Stalin,  Leninism,  pp.  94,  95.) 

Stalin  himself  makes  a  broader  explanatory  comment. 

Revolutionary  theory  is  a  synthesis  of  the  experience  of  the  working-class  move- 
ment throughout  all  lands — the  generalized  experience.  Of  course,  theory  out  of  touch 
with  revolutionary  practice  is  like  a  mill  that  runs  without  any  grist,  just  as  practice 
gropes  in  the  dark  unless  revolutionary  theory  throws  a  light  on  the  path.  But  theory 
becomes  the  greatest  force  in  the  working-class  movement  when  it  is  inseparably 
linked  with  revolutionary  practice ;  for  it,  and  it  alone,  can  give  the  movement  confi- 
dence, guidance,  and  understanding  of  the  inner  links  between  events ;  it  alone  can 
enable  those  engaged  in  the  practical  struggle  to  understand  the  whence  and  the 
whither  of  the  working-class  movement.  (Stalin,  Leninism,  p.  94,  lecture  at  Sverdlov 
University,  April  1924.) 

Strategy  is  the  application  of  theory  to  a  broad  situation,  the  identi- 
fication of  the  main  factors  in  the  situation,  and  the  recognition  of  which 
ones  are  favorable  or  unfavorable.  Tactics  in  turn  are  the  direct  practical 
application  of  theoretical  and  strategic  principles  in  ordinary  daily  work. 

Tactic  is  the  determination  of  the  line  to  be  taken  by  the  proletariat  during  a 
comparatively  short  period  of  the  ebb  or  flow  of  the  movement,  of  advance  or  retreat 
of  the  revolution ;  the  maintenance  of  this  line  by  the  substitution  of  new  forms  of 
struggle  and  organization  for  those  that  have  become  out  of  date,  or  by  the  discovery 
of  new  watchwords,  or  by  the  combination  of  new  methods  with  old,  etc.  Whereas 
strategy  is  concerned  with  such  wide  purposes  as  the  winning  of  the  war  against 
tsaiism  or  the  bourgeoisie,  tactic  has  a  narrower  aim.  Tactic  is  concerned,  not  with 
the  war  as  a  whole,  but  with  the  fighting  of  this  or  that  campaign,  with  the  gaining  of 
this  or  that  victory  which  may  be  essential  during  a  particular  period  of  the  general 
revolutionary  advance  or  withdrawal.  Tactics  are  thus  parts  of  strategy,  and  subordi- 
nate thereto.  ( Stalin,  Leninism,  p.  148. ) 

A  most  important  element  in  strategy  and  tactics  is  an  understand- 
ing of  when  and  how  to  shift  from  the  offensive  to  the  defensive  and 
back  again.  This  is  as  essential  a  principle  to  the  revolutionary  movement 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  19 

as  it  is  to  military  strategy.  It  also  reflects  the  unending  practicality  and 
patience  with  which  the  Communists  are  ready  to  face  the  shifts  of  cir- 
cumstances and  the  delays  of  hope.  Lenin  took  particular  note  of  the 
superiority  of  Communism  on  the  offensive  over  Communism  on  the 
defensive  in  his  time,  and  pointed  out  that  they  must  learn  not  only  to 
advance  but  to  retreat. 

Revolutionary  parties  must  go  on  learning.  They  have  learned  how  to  attack. 
Now  it  is  time  for  them  to  realize  that  this  knowledge  must  be  supplemented  by 
acquiring  a  knowledge  of  how  best  to  retreat.  We  have  got  to  understand  (and  a  revo- 
lutionary class  learns  this  by  bitter  experience)  that  victory  can  only  be  won  by  those 
who  have  learned  the  proper  method  both  of  advance  and  of  retreat.  (Lenin,  quoted 
by  Stalin,  Leninism,  p.  153.) 

He  also  emphasized  the  long  drawn-out  character  of  the  struggle, 
and  the  many  changes  that  may  occur. 

To  wage  a  war  for  the  overthrow  of  the  international  bourgeoisie,  a  war  which 
is  a  hundred  times  more  difficult,  more  prolonged,  more  complicated,  than  the  most 
bloodthirsty  of  wars  between  States,  while  renouncing  beforehand  the  use  of  maneu- 
vering, of  playing  off  (though  for  a  time  only)  the  interests  of  one  foe  against  the 
other,  of  entering  upon  agreements  and  effecting  compromises  (even  though  these 
may  be  of  an  unstable  and  temporary  character) — would  not  such  renunciation  be  the 
height  of  folly?  We  might  as  well,  when  climbing  a  dangerous  and  hitherto  unexplored 
mountain,  refuse  in  advance  to  make  the  ascent  in  zigzag,  or  to  turn  back  for  a  while, 
to  give  up  the  chosen  direction  in  order  to  test  another  which  may  prove  to  be  easier 
to  negotiate.  (Lenin,  quoted  by  Stalin,  Leninism,  p.  158.) 

THE  LENINIST  ZIGZAG  LINE 

This  insistence  on  what  is  sometimes  called  the  "Leninist  line",  or 
a  zigzag  line  of  advance  and  retreat,  is  the  theoretical  basis  for  the  grand 
shifts  of  Communist  strategy  that  have  marked  the  30  years  since  the 
Russian  Revolution.  This  series  of  great  zigzag  shifts  is  the  main  frame- 
work of  their  policy,  and  the  incidental  cause  of  most  of  the  confusion 
as  to  just  what  their  policy  is. 

First,  after  the  revolution,  there  came  the  three  years  of  War  Commu- 
nism, when  the  party  in  Russia  drove  toward  the  left,  nationalizing 
industries,  requisitioning  goods,  and  drafting  manpower. 

Then  came  the  six  years  of  the  New  Economic  Policy  or  NEP,  when 
free  enterprise  was  encouraged,  in  order  to  revive  production  and  trade 
from  the  terrible  breakdown  left  after  the  civil  wars. 

Next  came  the  Five  Year  Plan  of  "Piatiletka. "  The  drive  to  the  left 
in  this  period  brought  the  socialization  of  agriculture,  the  famine  in  the 
Ukraine  in  1931,  and  the  slaughter  of  the  cattle  which  reduced  Russian 
livestock  so  far  that  they  have  never  since  surpassed  their  former  num- 
bers. It  also  started  the  growth  of  heavy  industry  which  has  been  the 
backbone  of  the  growth  of  Soviet  power. 

Hitler 's  rise  to  power  in  1933  brought  another  transition,  a  swing  to 
the  right  in  foreign  relations.  In  1935  the  new  Soviet  Constitution  was 
adopted,  in  a  form  that  apparently  accepted  the  familiar  standards  of 
western  democracy.  The  Popular  Front  became  the  announced  policy, 
and  the  alliance  of  Communism  with  Socialism,  instead  of  bitter  opposi- 
tion to  the  Socialists  as  misleaders  of  the  working  class,  was  made  the 
basis  of  political  tactics  in  France  and  other  countries.  The  Communist 
role  in  the  Spanish  Civil  War  in  alliance  with  Socialist  and  democratic 
elements  was  the  outstanding  illustration  of  what  this  meant.  The  great 


20  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

purges  of  1937  and  1938  showed  how  an  intensification  of  leftism  in 
Russia  could  accompany  cooperation  with  capitalist  countries  abroad. 

The  Popular  Front  died  in  the  period  of  Nazi  preparation  and 
appeasement.  The  preparatory  Nazi  moves,  of  course,  date  back  to  the 
occupation  of  the  Rhineland  in  1935  and  the  naval  treaty  with  Britain. 
The  appeasement  of  the  Nazis  or  the  Italian  Fascists  by  the  democracies 
begins  at  least  as  early  as  that  and,  of  course,  includes  the  failure  of  the 
League  to  stop  Mussolini 's  Ethiopian  war. 

It  was  not  until  after  Munich,  however,  that  the  Soviet  purges  on 
the  one  hand  and  the  appeasement  by  the  western  democracies  on  the 
other  brought  the  shift  of  Soviet  strategy  that  was  announced  so  sud- 
denly with  the  Nazi-Soviet  pact  in  August,  1939.  In  the  period  that  fol- 
lowed the  Soviets  seized  what  they  could  entirely  on  their  own.  They 
thereby  gained  the  position  in  the  Karelian  Peninsula  which  later  helped 
save  Leningrad,  and  occupied  the  Baltic  States  and  eastern  Poland. 
They  also  discussed  with  the  Nazis  a  world  revolutionary  partnership, 
out  set  their  own  demands  too  high  for  Nazi  acceptance.  (See  Nazi-Soviet 
Relations,  1939-41,  published  by  the  Department  of  State,  1948.) 

The  failure  to  make  a  satisfactory  deal  with  Hitler  brought  the  Ger- 
man attack  on  Russia  on  June  22,  1941.  The  United  Kingdom  promptly 
announced  its  acceptance  of  the  Soviet  Union  as  an  ally  and  its  own  per- 
sistence in  the  fight  against  Hitler.  The  United  States  moved  swiftly  to 
include  Russia  under  lend-lease,  and  the  first  lend-lease  protocol  with  the 
Soviet  Union  was  signed  before  Pearl  Harbor.  Thus  began  a  new  "right" 
period  of  collaboration  between  Communists  and  other  democratic  and 
progressive  forces.  Some  call  this  the  Teheran  period. 

From  the  time  of  Teheran  until  the  Soviet  repudiation  of  the  Mar- 
shall Plan  in  June,  1947,  there  was  a  2-2-year  period  which  can  only  be 
regarded  as  transitional  to  a  new  leftward  drive.  There  was  evidence 
throughout  this  period  of  some  effort  to  retain  the  psychological  and 
political  assets  that  had  been  built  up  in  the  time  of  collaboration.  At  the 
same  time  there  was  an  effort  to  seize  new  assets  through  Communist  con- 
trol of  eastern  European  countries.  Communist  action  to  change  the 
balance  of  power  in  eastern  Asia,  and  Communist  readiness  to  delay  the 
peace. 

If  there  is  any  major  characteristic  of  their  strategy  in  this  period, 
it  was  the  readiness  to  grab  anything  they  could  get  without  great  risk. 
These  1\  years  were,  of  course,  years  of  transition  not  only  in  Communist 
policy  and  strategy  but  also  in  the  psychology  and  therefore  the  policy 
of  the  United  States  and  other  countries. 

The  present  time,  at  least  since  June,  1947,  has  all  the  characteristics 
of  past  periods  of  radical  leftism.  The  Communists  are  pursuing  their 
own  objective,  not  perhaps  at  the  risk  of  war,  but  at  least  at  the  risk  of 
open  enmity.  Psychologically  the  re-creation  of  the  Cominform  is  the 
clearest  of  all  the  symptoms.  It  represents  the  liquidation  of  whatever 
they  gained  in  western  minds  by  the  abolition  of  the  Comintern. 

It  is  current  facts  that  cause  them  to  recognize  a  new  situation.  But 
it  is  theory  that  guides  their  estimate  of  how  to  act  toward  a  new  siuation 
when  they  see  one.  Their  decision  for  offensive  action  in  the  present  situa- 
tion is  a  theoretical  decision. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  21 

B.      CAPITALISM  AND  REVOLUTION 

If  Communist  theory  offers  the  basis  and  guide  for  Communist 
tactics,  how  does  it  do  it  ?  The  body  of  their  theory  is  an  analysis  of  cause 
and  effect  in  modern  society,  and  since  it  is  a  theory  of  cause  and  effect, 
it  is  equally  a  theory  of  means  and  ends.  For  any  theory  to  guide  any 
tactics,  it  must  offer  an  analysis  of  a  practical  situation,  throw  the  focus 
of  attention  upon  certain  features,  explain  the  meaning  of  these  features, 
and  explain  clearly  how  to  act  within  the  situation.  Communist  theory 
does  just  this,  it  is  a  sort  of  field  manual  for  revolutionists,  explaining 
what  are  the  important  features  of  any  oattlefield,  and  how  action  should 
he  adapted  to  the  variations  of  the  field  in  any  particular  situation. 

Capitalism  may  be  taken,  for  our  present  purposes,  as  the  starting 
point  in  the  Communist  theory  of  human  society.  While  they  also  make 
great  to-do  about  ' '  materialism ' '  and  ' '  dialectics, ' '  this  is  philosophical 
underpinning  which  is  not  essential  to  the  present  discussion. 

Capitalism,  as  they  see  it,  is  the  dominating  feature  of  human  society 
in  the  present  age.  The  whole  of  human  culture  in  any  society  is,  accord- 
ing to  their  ideas,  shaped  and  colored  by  the  "mode  of  production. "  The 
present  mode  of  production  in  all  leading  countries  except  the  Soviet 
Union  is  capitalism,  that  is,  private  ownership  of  the  means  of  produc- 
tion. They  assert  capitalism,  as  a  system,  requires  exploitation  of  the 
laboring  class,  or  proletariat,  and  an  inhibiting  of  the  whole  productive 
process  by  the  distorted  motives  of  profit.  They  say  the  disparity  between 
the  rewards  to  capital  and  the  rewards  to  labor  must  become  greater  and 
greater,  and  finally  the  progress  of  production  must  be  halted  by  the 
faults  of  the  system. 

The  real  barrier  of  capitalist  production  is  capital  itself.  It  is  the  fact  that 
capital  and  its  self-expansion  appear  as  the  starting  and  the  closing  point,  as  the 
motive  and  aim  of  production  ;  that  production  is  merely  production  for  capital,  and 
not  vice  versa,  the  means  of  production  mere  means  for  an  ever-expanding  system  of  the 
life  process  for  the  benefit  of  the  society  of  producers.  The  barriers,  within  which  the 
preservation  and  self-expansion  of  the  value  of  capital  resting  on  the  expropriation 
and  pauperization  of  the  great  mass  of  producers  can  alone  move,  these  barriers  come 
constantly  in  collision  with  the  methods  of  production,  which  capital  must  employ 
for  its  purposes,  and  which  steer  straight  toward  an  unrestricted  extension  of  produc- 
tion, toward  production  for  its  own  self,  toward  an  unconditional  development  of  the 
productive  forces  of  society.  (Marx,  Capital,  I,  p.  293.) 

The  faults  of  capitalism  involve  contradictions,  that  is  to  say,  the 
generation  of  forces  that  work  in  opposite  directions.  These  contradic- 
tions develop  into  opposed  interests  between  individuals  and  classes, 
and  become  political  forces  of  explosive  strength.  The  three  most  funda- 
mental of  these  contradictions,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Communists,  have  been 
listed  by  Stalin. 

Among  the  most  important  contradictions  of  the  capitalist  system,  special  men- 
tion may  be  made  of  the  three  following  : 

First  contradiction  :  The  conflict  between  labor  and  capital.  *  *  * 

Second  contradiction  :  The  conflict  between  the  various  financial  groups  and  the 
different  imperialist  powers  in  their  competition  for  control  of  the  sources  of  raw 
material,  for  foreign  territory.  *  *   * 

Third  contradiction  :  The  conflict  between  the  small  group  of  dominant  "civilized" 
nations,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  hundreds  of  millions  of  persons  who  make  up  the 
colonial  and  dependent  peoples  of  the  world  on  the  other.  *  *  *  (Stalin,  Leninism, 
p.  81  f.,  lecture  at  Sverdlov  University,  April,  1924.) 

The  development  of  capitalist  industry  automatically  develops  the 
proletariat  as  a  class.  This  class  has,  according  to  Marxist  thinking, 


22  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

certain  remarkable  attributes.  First,  it  is  the  most  numerous,  out-number- 
ing the  peasants  or  bourgeoisie.  It  also  is  the  class  which  learns,  under 
capitalism,  the  value  of  cooperation  and  discipline,  and  the  social  nature 
of  production.  It  thereby  develops  common  objectives  and  a  firmness  of 
morale  lacking  to  all  others,  and  gains  a  sense  of  how  society  should  be 
organized  in  contrast  to  the  capitalist  system.  It  thus  becomes  of  neces- 
sity the  revolutionary  agent  for  the  overthrow  of  capitalism  and  the 
establishment  of  socialism.  As  Lenin  said : 

While  the  capitalist  class  breaks  up  and  dissolves  the  peasantry  and  all  the  lower 
middle  classes,  it  welds  together,  units  and  organizes  the  town  proletariat.  Only  the 
proletariat — on  account  of  its  economic  role  in  production  on  a  large  scale — is  capable 
of  the  leading  all  the  toiling  and  exploited  masses.  (Lenin,  The  State  and  Revolution, 
p.  132.) 

THE  STATE  AS  A  MONOPOLY  OF  FORCE 

The  contradictions  in  societj^  before  the  revolution,  expressed  in 
conflict  between  groups  and  classes,  require  the  creation  of  a  monopoly 
of  force  in  order  to  prevent  chronic  civil  war.  This  monopoly  of  force, 
serving  as  the  agency  for  the  maintenance  of  peace  in  the  presence  of 
contradictions,  is  the  state.  The  state  is  the  agency  of  the  ruling  class, 
for  the  preservation  of  the  existing  order  with  all  its  advantages  for  that 
class.  As  such,  it  is  the  agent  that  defends  the  existing  order  through  the 
use  of  force,  and  ipso  facto  is  the  prime  target  of  revolution. 

The  state  is  tantamount  to  an  acknowledgement  that  the  given  society  has 
become  entangled  in  an  insoluble  contradiction  with  itself,  that  it  has  broken  up 
into  irreconcilable  antagonisms,  of  which  it  is  powerless  to  rid  itself.  And  in  order 
that  these  antagonisms,  these  classes  with  their  opposing  economic  interests  may  not 
devour  one  another  and  society  itself  in  their  sterile  struggle,  some  force  standing, 
seemingly,  above  society,  becomes  necessary  so  as  to  moderate  the  force  of  their 
collisions  and  to  keep  them  within  the  bounds  of  "order."  And  this  force  arising  from 
society,  but  placing  itself  above  it,  which  gradually  separates  itself  from  it — this  force 
is  the  state.  (Engels,  The  Origin  of  the  Family,  State  and  Private  Property,  in  Burns, 
A  handbook  of  Marxism,  p.  328,  quoted  by  Lenin,  The  State  and  Revolution,  p.  114.) 

The  state  is  nothing  else  than  a  machine  for  the  oppression  of  one  class  by 
another  class,  and  that  no  less  in  the  democratic  republic  than  under  the  monarchy. 
(Engels,  introduction  to  Marx,  The  Paris  Commune,  p.  20.) 

The  character  of  a  class  society  and  of  the  state  as  its  preservative 
is  what  makes  revolution  necessary,  they  believe.  They  assert  that 
capitalism  makes  it  impossible  that  the  capitalist  class  can  understand  the 
real  necessities  for  reform  and  change.  Reform  on  a  genuinely  adequate 
scale  is  impossible,  and  a  stage  is  sure  to  be  reached  eventually  at  which 
society  must  either  relapse  into  decadence  or  go  through  a  revolution. 

If  the  state  is  the  product  of  the  irreconcilable  character  of  class  antagonisms, 
if  it  is  a  force  standing  above  society  and  "separating  itself  gradually  from  it,"  then 
it  is  clear  that  the  liberation  of  the  oppressed  class  is  impossible  without  a  violent 
revolution,  and  without  the  destruction  of  the  machinery  of  state  power,  which  has 
been  created  by  the  governing  class  and  in  which  this  separation  is  embodied.  (Lenin, 
The  State  and  Revolution,  p.  116.) 

Leninism  is  preeminently  combative  and  revolutionary.  (Stalin,  Leninism,  p.  80, 
lecture  at  Sverdlov  University,  April,  1924.) 

The  possibility  of  avoiding  revolution  has  been  largely  neglected  in 
Marxism,  but  there  have  been  some  few  comments  upon  it.  It  was  recog- 
nized by  Marx  and  Engels  that  liberal  democracy,  as  they  saw  it  in 
England  or  the  United  States  might  possibly  evolve  toward  socialism 
without  the  necessity  for  a  violent  overthrow.  But  how  improbable  the 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  23 

avoidance  of  revolution  appears  to  them  is  clearest  in  their  readiness  to 
attack  all  doctrines  of  peaceful  reform. 

The  lower  middle  class  Democrats,  these  sham  Socialists  who  have  replaced  the 
class-war  by  dreams  of  harmony  between  classes,  have  imagined  even  the  transition 
to  socialism,  in  a  dream,  as  it  were — that  is,  not  in  the  form  of  the  overthrow  of  the 
supremacy  of  the  exploiting  class,  but  in  the  form  of  the  peaceful  submission  of  the 
minority  to  the  fully  enlightened  majority.  This  lower  middle  class  Utopia,  indissolubly 
connected  with  the  vision  of  a  state  above  classes,  in  practice  led  to  the  betrayal  of  the 
interests  of  the  toiling  classes,  as  was  shown,  for  example,  in  the  history  of  the  revolu- 
tions of  1848  and  1871.  *   *   *  (Lenin,  The  State  and  Revolution,  p.  132.) 

The  later  development  of  industry  and  capitalism  in  the  United 
States,  from  1880  to  the  1920 's  was  regarded  as  proof  that  American 
and  English  democracy  was  becoming  more  and  not  less  capitalistic  and 
that  the  possibility  of  avoiding  revolution,  if  it  ever  existed  in  these 
countries,  had  ceased  to  exist. 

Marx  did,  in  actual  fact,  admit  this  possibility,  and  he  had  good  reason  for  doing 
so  in  regard  to  the  Britain  and  the  United  States  of  the  early  seventies,  before  the 
days  of  monopolist  capitalism  and  imperialism,  and  at  a  time  when  in  those  countries 
(owing  to  the  peculiar  conditions  of  their  development)  militarism  and  bureaucracy 
were  but  little  in  evidence.  That  was  at  an  epoch  when  imperialism  was  in  its  infancy. 
But  several  decades  later,  when  the  position  in  the  English-speaking  lands  had  radically 
changed,  when  imperialism  had  grown  to  its  full  stature  and  was  dominant  in  all 
capitalist  countries  without  exception,  when  militarism  and  bureaucracy  had  become 
established  in  Britain  and  the  United  States  as  well  as  on  the  Continent  of  Europe, 
and  when  the  exceptional  conditions  favorable  to  a  peaceful  development  in  the  English- 
speaking  world  had  passed  away — then  Marx's  reservation  "on  the  Continent"  had 
become  obsolete,  and  what  he  said  of  continental  Europe  applied  with  equal  force  to 
Britain  and  the  United  States  *  *  *. 

In  other  words,  as  far  as  the  imperialist  countries  are  concerned,  we  must  regard 
it  as  a  universally  applicable  law  of  the  revolutionary  movement  that  the  proletarian 
revolution  tcill  be  effected  by  force,  that  the  bourgeois  state  machine  will  have  to  be 
smashed,  as  an  indispensable  preliminary  to  the  revolution.  (Stalin,  Leninism,  p.  117, 
1928  edition.) 

The  fact  that  they  are  so  convinced  of  this  that  they  simply  take  it 
for  granted  is  illustrated  by  Stalin's  comment  ''when  I  use  the  word 
'  prerevolutionary '  I  am  thinking  only  of  the  proletarian  revolution. ' '  In 
other  words,  he  is  assuming  that  any  nation  that  has  not  yet  had  a 
proletarian  revolution  is  still  prerevolutionary,  that  is  to  say  still  faced 
with  such  a  revolution  as  a  future  prospect. 

C.    DICTATORSHIP 

According  to  the  Communists,  society  immediately  after  the  revolu- 
tion must  be  organized  as  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat.  The  over- 
throw of  the  old  state  does  not  suffice  to  eliminate  all  forms  of  exploita- 
tion and  coercion.  This  task  must  be  accomplished  before  the  classless 
society  can  be  created  and  the  ' '  withering  away ' '  of  the  state  can  occur. 
The  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  is  at  first  simply  the  opposite  of  the 
previous ' '  dictatorship  of  the  bourgeoisie. ' '  There  is  a  prevailing  contrast, 
however,  to  which  the  Communists  pay  little  attention — the  dictatorship 
of  the  bourgeoisie  may  be  democratic  at  least  in  form.  The  dictatorship 
of  the  proletariat,  so  far  as  it  impinges  upon  the  enemies  of  the  prole- 
tariat, is  cloaked  in  no  democracy  whatsoever. 

The  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  is  a  hard-foughl  fight  against  the  forces  and 
traditions  of  the  old  society,  a  fight  that  is  both  bloody  and  unbloody,  both  violent 
and  passive,  both  military  and  economic,  both  educational  and  administrative.  (Lenin, 
Works,  vol.  XVII,  Russian  edition,  p.  136,  quoted  by  Stalin,  Leninism,  1928  edition, 
p.  112.) 


24  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

In  the  course  of  time  it  has  become  clear  that  the  Communist  dictator- 
ship of  the  proletariat  includes  the  utilization  of  every  known  method  of 
mass  control  in  society.  Whatever  faults  may  lie  in  this  the  fact  remains 
that  these  methods  are  certainly  effective  within  limits.  If  one  has  a 
serious  problem  of  a  dissident  group,  one  can  dispose  of  that  particular 
problem  by  wiping  out  the  group.  This  may  cause  later  problems  of  a 
still  more  serious  character,  but  within  the  limited  terms  in  which  the 
calculation  is  made,  it  is  a  brutally  effective  method  of  solving  the  par- 
ticular problem.  As  a  close  student  of  the  methods  of  the  police  state  has 
said: 

Behind  the  cunning  devices  and  speedy  action  of  the  secret  police  as  experienced 
from  Fouche  to  Himmler,  there  is  a  certain  basic  conception  of  what  man  is  and 
how  he  must  be  treated.  *  *  *  At  the  same  time,  this  negative  conception  is  markedly 
rational,  for  it  implies  that  man  is  a  bundle  of  instincts  and  emotions,  easily  perceptible 
and  controllable,  which,  if  necessary,  can  be  annihilated  by  various  specific  tech- 
niques. (Bramstedt,  Dictatorship  and  Political  Police,  p.  137.) 

The  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  is  supposed  to  end  in  the  eventual 
"withering  away"  of  the  state,  a  curious  feature  of  the  Communist 
theory  which  has  caused  much  fruitless  speculation.  There  have  been 
times  when  developments  within  the  Soviet  Union  have  been  interpreted 
by  sympathetic  outsiders  as  the  beginnings  of  this  withering  away.  Every 
turn  toward  more  democratic  forms,  as  by  the  Soviet  Constitution  of 
1935,  has  been  welcomed  on  this  ground.  If  one  examined  closely  the 
Marxist  doctrine  of  the  state,  the  place  of  the  withering  away  in  the 
system  of  concepts  becomes  apparent.  The  state  is  simply  the  means  for 
the  domination  of  society  by  a  single  class  at  the  expense  of  other  classes, 
and  the  role  of  the  proletariat  is  to  overthrow  the  old  state,  and  create 
a  new  one.  It  must  then  use  its  power  to  create  a  classless  society,  and 
the  state  as  denned  must  cease  to  exist  as  the  classless  society  comes  into 
being.  In  other  words,  the  state  will  ' '  wither  away ' '  because  the  state  is 
by  Communist  definition  that  which  must  wither  away  when  there  are 
no  classes. 

Democracy,  carried  out  with  the  fullest  imaginable  completeness  and  consistency, 
is  transformed  from  capitalist  democracy  into  proletarian  democracy :  From  the  state 
(that  is,  a  special  force  for  the  suppression  of  a  particular  class)  to  something  which 
is  no  longer  really  a  form  of  the  state.  (Lenin,  State,  p.  149.) 

And,  once  the  majority  of  the  nation  itself  suppresses  its  oppressors  a  "special" 
force  for  suppression  is  no  longer  necessary.  (Lenin,  State,  p.  149.) 

Any  confusion  as  to  when  the  Soviet  State  will  wither  away  really 
is  unnecessary.  Stalin  has  made  clear  (In  his  Report  on  the  Work  of  the 
Central  Committee  of  the  Eighteenth  Congress  of  the  Communist  Party 
of  the  Soviet  Union,  1939),  the  state  cannot  wither  away  in  a  single 
socialist  country  before  the  world  revolution,  because  of  the  necessities 
imposed  by  capitalist  encirclement. 

The  monopoly  of  power  by  the  proletariat,  not  only  against  the 
bourgeoisie  but  to  the  exclusion  of  any  other  classes,  is  best  explained 
by  examining  the  Marxist  teachings  concerning  the  role  of  the  peasants. 
This  also  clarifies,  by  contrast,  their  conception  of  the  proletariat  and  its 
special  function  in  the  logic  of  history. 

MARXISM  AND  THE  PEASANTS 

There  are  many  groups  in  society,  not  just  two,  which  may  be  identi- 
fied as  classes  at  any  given  time.  The  bourgeoisie  and  the  landowners  are 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  25 

distinct,  though  allied.  The  peasants  are  distinct  from  both  the  bourgeoisie 
and  the  proletariat.  Also  the  peasants  may  become  alined  with  the  prole- 
tariat, although  they  can  play  only  an  auxiliary  role. 

*  *  *  The  agricultural  population,  in  consequence  of  its  dispersion  over  a 
great  space  and  of  the  difficulty  of  bringing  about  an  agreement  among  any  con- 
siderable portion  of  it,  never  can  attempt  a  successful  independent  movement ;  they 
require  the  initiatory  impulse  of  the  more  concentrated,  more  enlightened,  more 
easily  moved  people  of  the  towns.  (Marx  [Engels]  Revolution  and  Counter-Revolu- 
tion,  p.  25.) 

The  mixture  of  Marxist  emphasis  upon  dictatorship  with  their  pre- 
tensions of  being  more  democratic  than  democracy  has  often  seemed 
contradictory.  It  has  been,  as  noted  earlier,  one  of  the  focal  points  in 
discussions  of  the  difference  in  the  meaning  of  words  as  between  Soviet 
negotiators  and  others.  Actually,  the  meaning  of  democracy  to  the  Com- 
munists is  quite  clear  in  Communist  doctrine.  It  was  first  raised  in  a  sharp 
form  in  1903,  when  the  Russian  Social  Democratic  Party  split  into  the 
two  groups  known  to  the  world  as  Bolsheviks  and  Mensheviks.  This  split 
occurred  over  the  adoption  of  a  clause  defining  membership  in  the  party 
constitution.  Lenin  proposed  that  the  clause  should  read: 

Anyone  is  a  member  of  the  party  who  participates  in  the  organization  of  the 
party. 

Martov  proposed  instead : 

Anyone  working  under  the  supervision  of  the  party  is  a  member  of  the  party. 

Lenin's  definition  meant  that  the  party  would  include  only  the  small 
circle  of  active  conspirators,  while  Martov 's  would  have  included  all 
sympathizers  and  adherents.  This  would  have  brought  in  all  politically 
active  labor,  whereas  for  Lenin  the  party  would  have  the  role  of  dis- 
ciplined professional  revolutionary  cadres.  Lenin,  at  a  later  time, 
expressed  his  views  on  the  subject  more  clearly. 

During  the  present  epoch  of  intense  civil  warfare,  the  Communist  Party  can 
accomplish  its  task  only  on  condition  that  it  is  highly  centralized,  that  it  is  domi- 
nated by  an  iron  discipline  which  is  quasimilitary  in  its  severity,  that  it  is  guided 
by  a  group  of  comrades  at  the  center,  enjoying  the  confidence  of  the  rank  and  file 
members,  endowed  with  authority,  and  possessing  wide  executive  powers.  (Lenin, 
Conditions  of  Admission  Into  the  Communist  International,  quoted  by  Stalin,  Lenin- 
ism, p.  171.) 

The  acceptance  of  this  principle  by  Stalin,  at  least  when  he  wrote 
his  Foundations  of  Leninism,  was  explicit. 

But  when  a  difference  of  opinion  has  been  thoroughly  thrashed  out,  when 
criticism  has  had  its  say,  and  when  a  decision  has  been  made,  then  unity  of  will  and 
action  on  the  part  of  all  our  members  is  the  indispensable  condition  without  which 
unity  and  discipline  are  impossible.  (Stalin,  Leninism,  p.  171.) 

Do  you  think  that  the  interests  of  any  individual  comrade  are  to  take  precedence 
of  the  interests  and  unity  of  the  party?  Surely  the  comrades  of  the  opposition  know 
that  for  us  Bolsheviks  formal  democracy  is  a  trifle,  and  that  the  real  interests  of  the 
party  are  all  important.  (Stalin,  Leninism,  p.  450  ;  concluding  words  at  the  Fourteenth 
Congress  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  May,  1925.) 

Well,  what  does  unity  demand?  Unity  demands  that  the  minority  should  yield 
to  the  majority.  Unless  this  rule  be  followed,  there  can  be  no  unity,  and  there  can  be 
no  party.  (Stalin,  Leninism.  ]>.  4.">G  ;  concluding  words  at  the  Fourteenth  Congress  of 
the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  May,  1925.) 

The  Communists  have  succeeded  in  maintaining  a  pretense  of  democ- 
racy within  Communist  organizations,  and  in  the  Soviet  government, 
while  at  the  same  time  achieving  the  effect  of  dictatorship. 


26  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

DEMOCRATIC  CENTRALIZATION 

The  method  they  use  is  what  they  call ' '  democratic  centralization, ' ' 
simply  the  application  of  the  principles  expressed  above.  This  term  means 
that  there  may  be  free  discussion  of  an  issue,  within  the  organization,  up 
to  the  time  when  a  decision  is  reached.  From  that  time  on  discussion 
stops.  The  majority  decides,  and  the  decision  is  final.  How  the  majority 
decides  is  discussed  further  below,  under  the  heading  of  political  tactics, 
but  suffice  to  say  that  all  the  arts  of  manipulation  are  applied  to  secure 
a  majority  decision  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  the  leaders. 

Communists  are  very  able  operators  in  the  conduct  of  meetings.  They 
know  the  rules,  they  use  the  powers  of  a  chairman  to  full  effect,  and  the 
cadres  of  the  party  provide  a  well-trained  and  well-prepared  group  on 
any  issue,  ready  and  able  to  dominate  the  discussion.  The  forms  are 
democratic  in  part ;  the  effect  is  that  the  mass  membership  acts  in  rubber- 
stamp  fashion. 

Along  with  the  iron  unity  and  discipline  of  the  party,  the  Com- 
munists recognize  that  the  party  must  develop  its  own  sense  of  values 
and  its  own  moral  system.  So-called  bourgeois  values  interfere  at  many 
points  with  the  pursuit  of  revolutionary  objectives,  and  with  practical 
tactics. 

Lenin  discussed  this  need  for  an  independent  and  exclusive  moral 
system  in  his  paper  on  The  Tasks  of  the  Youth  Leagues.  Such  a  tendency 
to  insist  upon  their  own  value  system  is,  of  course,  common  to  more  or 
less  fanatical  political  and  religious  groups.  Secret  societies,  from  the 
' '  Molly  McGuires ' '  of  Pennsylvania,  to  the  IMRO  of  Macedonia,  and  the 
' '  Black  Hand ' '  of  Serbia,  have  always  demonstrated  a  tendency  to  regard 
their  own  objectives  as  the  embodiments  of  absolute  value.  This  leaves 
no  barrier  whatever  in  their  thinking  to  prevent  a  drift  into  the  doctrine 
that  the  end  justifies  the  means.  This  certainly  applies  to  modern  Com- 
munism. 

COMMUNIST  MORAL  VALUES 

If  one  believes  that  one's  own  group  represents  the  predestined 
leadership  of  a  great  historical  human  movement,  this  will,  of  course, 
be  reflected  in  one's  attitude  toward  other  groups.  Outside  of  the  Bol- 
sheviks themselves,  any  prerevolutionary  society  contains  many  groups 
which  vary  greatly  in  their  opposition  to  Bolshevik  objectives.  This  varia- 
tion extends  from  those  who  are  die-hard  reactionaries  and  bitter  antago- 
nists of  bolshevism  to  those  whose  objectives,  though  foggy,  have  a  great 
deal  in  common  with  the  revolutionists. 

It  was  laid  down  by  Lenin  that  Communists  must  participate  in 
non-Communist  groups  and  organizations  and  institutions  whenever,  by 
so  doing,  they  can  advance  the  cause  of  revolution.  His  Left  Wing  Com- 
munism, an  Infantile  Disorder  is  the  classic  text  on  this  subject.  In  it 
Lenin  berates  those  who  maintain  that  Communists  should  not  enter 
bourgeoisie  parliaments,  or  seek  to  work  in  and  through  non-Communist 
organizations.  He  makes  the  point  that  their  exaggerated  "leftism" 
actually  has  the  effect  of  favoring  ' '  right ' '  tendencies.  The  logic  of  this 
argument  is  the  foundation  of  the  Communist  use  of  "bridge"  and 
"front"  organizations,  as  well  as  of  their  jargon  concerning  "right 
deviations  cloaked  in  left  phraseology. ' ' 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  27 

The  readiness  of  Communists  to  ride  with  others  who  are  going 
part  of  the  way  in  the  same  direction  was  expressed  earlier,  in  a  work 
of  Marx  now  attributed  to  Engels. 

The  practical  experience  of  1848-49  confirmed  the  reasonings  of  theory,  which 
led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  democracy  of  the  petty  traders  must  first  have  its  turn, 
before  the  Communist  working  class  could  hope  to  permanently  establish  itself  in 
power  and  destroy  that  system  of  wage  slavery  which  keeps  it  under  the  yoke  of  the 
bourgeoisie.  Thus  the  secret  organization  of  the  Communists  could  not  have  the  direct 
purpose  of  upsetting  the  present  governments  of  Germany.  Being  formed  to  upset  not 
these,  but  the  insurrectionary  government,  which  is  sooner  or  later  to  follow  them,  its 
members  might,  and  certainly  would,  individually,  lend  an  active  hand  to  a  revolu- 
tionary movement  against  the  present  status  quo  in  its  turn ;  but  the  preparation  of 
such  a  movement,  otherwise  than  by  spreading  of  Communist  opinions  by  the  masses, 
could  not  be  an  object  of  the  association.  (Marx  [Engels],  Revolution  and  Counter- 
Revolution,  written  for  the  New  York  Tribune,  1851.) 

RELIGION  AS  A  KEY 

The  Communist  idea  that  they  must  develop  their  own  ethics  or 
morals,  independent  of  any  older  system,  governs  their  relations  with 
all  other  groups.  Not  only  are  existing  liberal  groups  used  and  infiltrated. 
National  movements  are  also  used,  just  so  far  as  they  happen  in  any  way 
to  be  traveling  the  Communist  road  toward  world  revolution.  But  the 
clearest  illustration  is  not  offered  by  liberals  or  by  patriotism,  but  by 
religion.  The  Communist  attitude  toward  all  existing  religion  is  the  proof 
and  cross-check  on  how  simply  and  seriously  they  take  their  ethical 
radicalism. 

Their  hearty  rejection  of  religion  is  well  known.  Engels,  long  ago, 
declared : 

Now  all  religion  is  nothing  else  than  the  fantastic  reflection,  in  the  minds  of 
men,  of  those  external  forces  which  dominate  their  everyday  existence,  a  reflection 
in  which  the  earthly  forces  assume  the  form  of  supernatural  forces.  (Engels,  Anti- 
Duhring,  quoted  by  Gsovsky,  article,  "The  Legal  Status  of  the  Church  in  Soviet 
Russia,"  Fordham  Law  Review,  January,  1930,  p.  2.) 

And  Lenin  at  a  later  time  reaffirmed  and  strengthened  the  original 
antagonism  of  Marxism  toward  religion. 

The  saying  of  Marx,  "Religion  is  the  opium  for  the  people,"  is  the  cornerstone 
of  the  Marxist  point  of  view  on  the  matter  of  religion.  All  contemporary  religion 
and  churches,  all  and  every  kind  of  religious  organization  Marxism  has  always  viewed 
as  organs  of  bourgeois  reaction,  serving  as  a  defense  of  exploitation  and  the  drugging 
of  the  working  class.  (Lenin,  Works,  second  Russian  edition,  quoted  by  Gsovsky.) 

The  Communist  intolerance  of  religion  is  not  quite  absolute.  When 
in  dire  straits,  and  needing  the  aid  of  all  forces  that  can  bring  human 
energies  to  a  common  cause,  they  have  softened  their  opposition  to 
religion,  and  have  even  made  advances  to  it.  This  occurred  in  the  Soviet 
Union  during  the  war,  and  parallels  the  use  of  patriotic  movements  as  a 
source  of  strength  that  can  be  followed,  or  ridden  or  directed.  But,  as 
was  most  clear  in  the  case  of  Nazism,  any  movement  that  makes  totali- 
tarian pretensions,  that  demands  fanatic  dogmatism  of  its  supporters, 
and  that  sets  up  values  on  such  an'absolute  basis  that  it  can  then  place 
its  tactics  on  the  basis  that  the  end  justifies  the  means,  must  inevitably 
oppose  and  seek  to  destroy  any  competing  value  system,  and  ethical  values 
most  of  all.  No  challenge  can  be  so  direct  to  the  whole  basis  of  discipline 
in  a  totalitarian  system  as  an  alternative  ethics,  setting  different  ends  for 
human  action.  This  is  the  central  meaning  of  totalitarianism  in  any  form, 


28  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

and  it  produces  intolerance  of  religion  automatically.  Thereby,  an  attack 
on  religion  is  also  one  of  the  revealing  symptoms  of  the  totalitarian  nature 
of  such  a  movement. 

What  the  Communists  think  of  bourgeois  democracy  is  not  obscure. 
They  prefer  enough  democracy,  as  we  mean  democracy,  to  permit  them 
to  function  freely  and  easily.  There  have  been  times  when  some  Commu- 
nists have  played  with  the  idea  that  Fascist  dictatorship  was  preferable 
on  the  ground  that  underground  activity  breeds  tougher  revolutionaries 
than  legal  activities,  or  on  the  ground  that  a  Fascist  dictatorship  is  a 
hopeful  sign  of  the  last  stages  of  development  before  the  revolution.  The 
Communist  line  has  in  general  rejected  these  positions,  but  they  do  not 
therefore  respect  bourgeois  democracy  as  true  democracy. 

The  issue  of  freedom  of  the  press  is  an  illustrative  case  in  point. 
They  like  freedom  of  the  press  in  non-Communist  countries  only.  Secre- 
tary of  State  Byrnes,  in  discussing  freedom  of  the  press  with  Molotov, 
once  argued  that  correspondents  should  be  permitted  free  access  to 
Rumania  and  other  Balkan  areas,  and  that  their  reporting  from  Greece 
demonstrated  their  value.  Molotov 's  answer,  as  quoted  by  Secretary 
Bj- rnes,  was : 

Apparently  in  Greece  the  correspondents  are  happy  but  the  people  are  not ; 
whereas  in  Rumania  the  people  are  happy  but  the  correspondents  are  not.  The  Soviet 
Government  attaches  more  importance  to  the  feeling  of  the  people.  (Molotov,  quoted 
by  Byrnes,  Speaking  Frankly,  p.  99.) 

D.    THE  PLACE  OF  THE  U.  S.  S.  R. 

The  place  of  the  Soviet  Union  in  Communist  doctrine  and  strategy 
has  been  a  puzzle  ever  since  the  Stalin-Trotsky  break  in  1926-27.  The 
policy  of  Stalin  on  socialism  in  one  country,  leading  to  the  supposed 
abandonment  of  the  world  revolution,  has  supported  the  interpretation 
of  Soviet  policy  as  merely  a  continuation  of  Czarist  imperialism. 

The  insistence  that  the  world  revolution  must  be  the  real  objective, 
and  that  the  doctrine  of  socialism  in  one  country  meant  a  break-down  of 
the  world  revolution,  has  been  one  of  the  foundations  of  the  Trotsky 
heresy.  The  readiness  of  Communists  to  adopt  the  language  of  Russian 
nationalism  on  occasion  has  facilitated  confusion  on  the  point.  Stalin's 
vigorous  comments  at  Yalta  concerning  the  new  boundary  between 
Poland  and  the  Soviet  Union  could  be  taken  as  old  familiar  nationalism. 

Now  some  people  want  that  we  should  be  less  Russian  than  Curzon  was  and 
Clemenceau  was.  You  would  drive  us  into  shame.  What  will  be  said  by  the  White 
Russians  and  the  Ukrainians?  They  will  say  that  Stalin  and  Molotov  are  far  less 
reliable  defenders  of  Russia  than  are  Curzon  and  Clemenceau.  I  could  not  take  such  a 
position  and  return  to  Moscow  with  an  open  face.  (Stalin,  quoted  by  Byrnes,  Speak- 
ing Frankly,  p.  30.) 

During  the  war  the  Soviet  Government  leaned  heavily  upon  Russian 
patriotism  as  a  morale  factor,  and  even  referred  to  the  war  as  the  ' '  great 
patriotic  war. ' '  They  also  boasted  of  the  solidarity  of  the  country  stand- 
ing behind  the  Red  Army. 

The  Red  Army  has  the  most  stable  and  reliable  rear  of  all  the  armies  in  the 
world.  This  is  a  source  of  strength  of  the  Soviet  Union.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the 
Soviet  state  will  emerge  from  the  war  even  stronger  and  more  consolidated. 

The  relation  between  the  Communist  conception  of  the  place  of  the 
Soviet  Union  in  history,  and  their  broad  theory  of  history  in  general,  is 
not  made  entirely  clear  at  any  one  point.  Lenin 's  Theses  on  the  Conclu- 
sion of  a  Separate  Peace  of  January,  1918,  however,  offers  a  first  sugges- 
tion on  the  character  of  the  Soviet  State  and  country  as  the  great  capital 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  29 

asset  of  the  Communists  in  the  world  revolution.  It  is  made  clear  that 
considerations  of  self-determination  for  smaller  areas,  such  as  Finland, 
must  be  entirely  subordinate  to  the  survival  of  the  Soviet  Communist 
State. 

On  the  other  hand  Stalin's  report  to  the  Sixteenth  Congress  of  the 
Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union  in  1930  insists  that  the  Soviet 
Union  seeks  no  territorial  acquisitions.  Molotov's  comments  on  the 
Soviet-German  pact  in  1939  make  plain  that  they  considered  the  coming 
war  as  an  imperialist  war  in  which  the  Soviet  Union  might  properly  be 
neutral,  if  possible. 

The  common  factor  in  these  apparently  contradictory  positions  is  a 
regard  for  the  Soviet  Union  as  the  main  force  in  the  army  of  the  revolu- 
tion, to  which  all  other  components  are  subordinate  and  auxiliary.  Its 
acquisitions  of  land  are  in  conformity  with  the  strategy  of  the  revolution, 
and  not  based  upon  mere  patriotism  or  national  expansion,  even  though 
they  may  be  cloaked  in  the  language  of  nationalism.  The  defeat  of  the 
Soviet  Union  would  be  decisive  for  the  course  of  history,  whereas  all 
other  Communist  defeats  would  be  merely  lost  skirmishes.  The  force  of 
nationalism,  while  a  force  outside  the  play  of  the  class  struggle,  is  a  force 
lying  ready  to  hand  for  Communists,  to  use  and  exploit,  as  easily  as 
others  can  use  it.  Its  full  utilization  without  compromising  the  more 
fundamental  Communist  objectives,  may  make  difficulty,  but  in  general, 
patriotism,  Russian  or  other,  is  in  the  same  class  with  all  other  non-Com- 
munist forces  in  society — that  is,  to  be  used  and  guided  and  not  to  be 
snubbed  in  an  excess  of  "leftism." 

The  conclusive  evidence  that  Russian  patriotism,  though  a  tremen- 
dous asset  to  be  cultivated,  is  nevertheless  subordinate  to  the  objective 
of  world  revolution  lies  plain  in  the  record  of  Soviet  domestic  policy. 
Stalin  made  this  plain  in  his  very  important  speech  of  February  9,  1946. 
The  security  of  the  Soviet  Union  in  the  military  sense  is  so  important  that 
agricultural  and  industrial  policies  in  the  Soviet  Union  must  give  top 
priority  to  defense  considerations.  But,  also,  Soviet  defense  means  no 
more  and  no  less  than  the  preparedness  of  the  Union  to  play  the  maxi- 
mum role  in  world  revolution. 

Soviet  satisfaction  with  their  military  strength  reached  the  stage  of 
confidence  as  early  as  1933. 

The  Soviet  Union  has  been  converted  from  a  weak  country,  unprepared  for 
defense,  into  a  country  mighty  in  defense,  a  country  prepared  for  every  contingency, 
a  country  capable  of  producing  on  a  mass  scale  all  modern  weapons  of  defense  and 
of  equipping  its  army  with  them  in  the  event  of  an  attack  from  without.  (Stalin,  Jan. 
7, 1933,  to  Joint  Plenum  of  Central  Committee  and  Central  Control  Commission.) 

Stalin's  message  to  Moscow,  on  September  10, 1947,  praised  Moscow 
as  the  center  of  two  things,  not  one :  On  the  one  hand,  Moscow  is  the 
center  of  a  centralized  State,  in  which  one  can  read  centralized  as  mean- 
ing disciplined  unity,  and  on  the  other  hand  of  a  centralized  world 
movement.  The  world  revolutionary  movement  consists  of  the  Soviet 
Union  plus  the  Communist  movement  everywhere  else.  The  place  of 
the  Soviet  Union  is  that  of  a  part  in  a  larger  whole,  more  important  than 
any  other  part,  but  not  so  important  as  the  whole. 

The  problem  of  establishing  friendly  relationships  between  the 
Soviet  Union  and  her  neighbors,  particularly  on  her  western  frontier, 
has  been  a  disturbing  and  disillusioning  factor  in  the  course  of  postwar 
diplomacy. 


30  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

United  States  representatives  have  apparently  felt  that  the  Soviet 
Union  should  mean  no  more  by  the  term  "friendly  neighbor"  than  we 
would  mean  by  it.  It  has  been  clear,  however,  that  to  the  Soviets  the 
term  meant  something  much  more  than  anything  we  mean  by  ' '  freedom 
loving"  and  "peace  loving."  The  Communist  idea  of  democratic  cen- 
tralization is  carried  over  into  the  principle  that  no  neighbor  can  be 
relied  upon  as  friendly  until  controlled  by  a  disciplined  Communist 
Party. 

The  idea  of  an  exclusive  morality,  attaching  to  the  party,  is  carried 
over  and  applied  to  the  Soviet  Union  (Zhdanov's  Speech  on  Cultural 
Policy,  1946).  The  people  of  the  Soviet  Union  must,  like  the  Communist 
Party  abroad,  develop  its  own  sense  of  values,  cease  to  admire  features 
of  bourgeois  civilization,  and  focus  its  eyes  upon  the  twisted  moral  values 
of  their  own  system. 

Their  insistence  that  their  variety  of  rigid  unity  deserves  the  term 
"democracy"  applies  fully  to  democracy  in  the  Soviet  Union.  Molotov 
discussed  Soviet  democracy  at  length  in  his  preelection  speech  of  Novem- 
ber 6, 1945. 

The  high  degree  of  activity  of  our  innumerable  trade  unions,  production,  cultural, 
sports,  and  other  working-class  organizations,  the  formation  of  the  collective  farms, 
the  constant  spread  of  Socialist  emulation  in  the  factories  and  mills,  on  the  collective 
and  state  farms,  in  the  mines  and  railways — all  this  reveals  a  flourishing  of  true 
democracy  of  the  people  that  they  did  not  know  in  the  old  days  and  that  cannot  exist 
in  any  other  states,  divided  as  they  are  into  classes  of  oppressors  and  oppressed,  a 
thing  that  Soviet  power  has  long  put  an  end  to  in  our  country. 

In  the  rapid  strides  made  by  our  country's  cultural  life  and  in  the  fact  that  now 
our  intelligentsia,  as  the  most  advanced  and  cultured  section  of  the  population  has 
merged  with  our  people  and  raised  the  moral  and  political  unity  of  Soviet  society  to 
a  still  higher  plane — in  all  this  we  cannot  but  discern  fresh  signs  of  Soviet  democracy, 
inspiring  us  with  new  hope  and  confidence  in  our  country's  future. 

The  organizing  force  of  Soviet  democracy  and  Soviet  patriotism  as  a  source  of 
heroic  exploits  made  themselves  felt  with  particular  emphasis  in  the  years  of  the  war. 
It  is  the  good  fortune  of  Soviet  men  and  women  that  the  October  Socialist  Revolution, 
which  saved  our  country  from  being  degraded  to  the  status  of  a  second-rate  power, 
released  the  forces  of  the  peoples  shackled  by  the  regime  of  the  nobles  and  feudal 
lords,  and  afforded  them,  on  the  basis  of  Soviet  power,  opportunities  for  development 
such  as  they  had  never  had  before.  (Molotov,  speech,  November  6,  1945,  reviewing  war 
and  outlining  peace  program.) 

After  the  election,  held  in  February  1946,  Pravda  boasted  of  the 
result,  pointing  out  that  only  48,000,000  of  the  60,000,000  qualified  voters 
in  the  United  States  had  voted  in  the  last  Presidential  election,  whereas 
99.7  percent  of  the  qualified  voters  in  the  U.  S.  S.  R.  cast  their  votes,  and 
99.18  percent  of  them  voted  for  the  Communist  and  nonparty  group  in 
power.  This,  according  to  Pravda,  was  a  demonstration  of  democratic 
strength  in  the  Soviet  Union  far  superior  to  that  in  the  United  States. 

INTERNATIONAL   RELATIONS 

The  Communist  attitude  on  nationalism  has  already  been  touched 
upon  in  connection  with  the  place  of  the  Soviet  Union  in  Communist 
thought  and  strategy.  Their  attitude  on  nationalism  has,  of  course,  other 
aspects  as  applied  to  foreign  countries.  The  general  Communist  view  on 
nationalism  is  that  the  nationalism  of  the  advanced  capitalist  countries 
is  a  factor  to  he  opposed  by  all  means,  while  nationalist  movements  in 
smaller  and  backward  countries  are  to  be  used  so  far  as  possible.  This  use 
of  nationalism  or  patriotism  in  the  backward  countries  serves  both  in 
efforts  to  disrupt  the  political  and  economic  stability  of  the  colonial 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  31 

empires  and  to  mobilize  popular  forces  which  can  in  turn  be  played  upon 
by  Communist  propaganda.  Stalin  explained,  in  his  book  on  Leninism, 
the  importance  of  distinguishing  between  the  different  types  of  nation- 
alist movements. 

The  proletariat  should  support  nationalist  movements  which  tend  to  weaken 
and  subvert  imperialism,  not  those  which  tend  to  strengthen  and  maintain  it.  In  cer- 
tain oppressed  countries,  nationalist  movements  may  run  counter  to  the  general  inter- 
ests of  the  proletarian  movement.  Obviously,  there  can  he  no  question  of  our  helping 
such  movements  as  these.  The  problem  of  national  rights  does  not  stand  alone;  it  is 
part  of  the  general  problem  of  the  proletarian  revolution,  is  subordinate  thereto,  and 
can  only  be  considered  by  the  proletariat  from  that  angle.  (Stalin,  Leninism,  p.  138.) 

He  also  made  a  statement  which  clearly  suggests  the  subordination 
of  nationalism  in  any  form  to  the  overriding  importance  of  the  world 
revolution. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  lack  of  an  international  revolutionary  outlook  threatens  us 
with  nationalism  and  with  dissolution.  That  is  why  the  fight  against  the  danger  of 
nationalism  is  a  matter  of  such  urgency  for  the  party.  (Stalin,  Leninism,  p.  305.) 

The  International  as  an  organization,  and  the  Internationale,  the 
song  of  the  world  revolutionary  movement,  both  emphasize  the  inter- 
national Communism  as  against  any  nationalism  whatever.  Communist 
thought  also  regards  the  nation  state  system,  with  its  great  number  of 
restricted  economic  areas,  as  a  major  factor  in  the  development  of  the 
contradictions  upon  which  they  rely  as  the  causes  of  revolution.  They 
maintain,  however,  that  any  fundamental  solution  of  the  problem  of 
world  government  can  come  only  after  the  revolution  and  not  before  it. 

The  problem  of  European  union  has  been  treated  by  Communists 
in  this  light  at  least  since  1915,  when  Lenin  attacked  the  slogan  of  "A 
United  States  of  Europe"  as  "either  impossible  or  reactionary." 

In  1930  and  1931,  when  the  world  depression  had  begun  and  when 
the  early  intellectual  movement  for  a  United  States  of  Europe  was  in 
its  heyday,  the  Communists  took  the  same  line  that  Lenin  had  indicated, 
and  which  they  have  taken  again  in  1947  and  1948.  Stalin,  in  1930,  linked 
the  advocates  of  European  Union  with  bourgeois  militarism. 

The  most  striking  representative  *  *  *  of  the  bourgeois  movement  toward 
intervention  against  the  Soviet  Union  is  the  bourgeois  France  of  today,  the 
fatherland  of  Pan-Europe,  the  cradle  of  the  Kellogg  Pact,  the  most  aggressive  and 
militaristic  country,  among  all  aggressive  and  militaristic  countries  of  the  world. 
( Stalin,  Report  to  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  June  26,  1930,  quoted  by 
Beloff,  The  Foreign  Policy  of  the  Soviet  Union,  p.  43.) 

Pravda,  in  1931,  when  the  Soviet  Union  had  accepted  membership 
in  the  commission  created  under  the  League  of  Nations  to  study  the  prob- 
lem of  European  union,  explained  that  the  Soviet  Union  had  done  so 
only  in  order  to  wreck  the  project. 

By  taking  part  in  the  work  of  the  European  commission,  the  Soviet  Union  will 
wreck  the  plans  of  the  leaders  of  the  commission,  plans  for  the  secret  elaboration  of 
anti-Soviet  projects.  Let  the  game  be  played  with  the  cards  on  the  table.  (Quoted  by 
Beloff,  The  Foreign  Policy  of  the  Soviet  Union,  p.  43f.) 

The  idea  that  collaboration  or  cooperation  is  possible  between  the 
world  of  Communism  and  the  world  outside  of  Communism  has  a  stub- 
born life.  It  is,  of  course,  encouraged  and,  played  upon  by  Communist 
policy  during  certain  periods.  Nevertheless,  when  the  issue  is  distinctly 
drawn  they  make  clear  that  in  their  eyes  there  are  two  worlds  which 


32  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

cannot  live  together  and  that  sooner  or  later  one  or  the  other  must  tri- 
umph. Stalin's  Interview  With  the  First  American  Labor  Delegation  in 
1927  is  one  clear  statement  on  the  subject,  and  Stalin's  Letter  to  Com- 
rade Ivanov  in  1938  is  another.  These  merely  reaffrm  the  line  established 
by  Lenin  much  earlier. 

We  are  living  not  merely  in  a  state  but  in  a  system  of  states,  and  the  existence  of 
the  Soviet  Republic  side  by  side  with  imperialist  states  for  a  long  time  is  unthinkable. 
One  or  the  other  must  triumph  in  the  end.  And  before  this  end  supervenes,  a  series  of 
frightful  collisions  between  the  Soviet  Republic  and  the  bourgeois  states  will  be 
inevitable.  (Lenin,  Report  at  the  Eighth  Congress  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the 
Soviet  Union,  March  18,  1919.  Works,  vol.  8,  p.  33.) 

The  establishment  of  a  Soviet  Union,  together  with  a  world  Com- 
munist movement,  presents  an  obvious  problem  of  organization.  The 
Communist  International  (also  known  as  the  Third  International,  and 
more  briefly  as  the  Comintern)  was  the  solution  of  this  problem.  It  was 
a  league  of  Communist  parties,  having  an  office  in  Moscow  with  a  secre- 
tariat, and  governed  by  a  Central  Executive  Committee  with  full  execu- 
tive powers  between  the  meetings  of  its  infrequent  Congresses.  Its  Con- 
gresses, and  its  Central  Executive  Committee,  were  always  dominated 
by  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union.  This  provided  a  solid  link 
in  personnel  and  organization  between  the  Soviet  Union  and  the  Comin- 
tern. There  was  always  a  considerable  interlocking  through  leading  per- 
sonnel between  the  Council  of  People's  Commissars,  or  cabinet  of  the 
Soviet  Union,  the  Politburo,  or  supreme  executive  of  the  Communist 
Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  and  the  Central  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Communist  International. 

An  international  organization  of  Communism,  to  give  common  direc- 
tion to  Communist  activities  in  all  countries,  is  very  necessary  in  periods 
of  sharp  antagonism.  It  is  not  so  much  needed  in  periods  when  collabora- 
tion with  liberal  and  progressive  elements  in  other  countries  is  predomi- 
nant. 

The  Comintern  was  therefore  a  very  necessary  instrument  immedi- 
ately after  the  Russian  revolution.  It  was  scarcely  needed  at  all  in  the 
time  of  the  People's  Front  in  1935  to  1939,  and  in  the  period  of  the 
alliance  against  Hitler  from  1941  to  1945.  The  short  period  of  the  Nazi- 
Soviet  alliance  was  too  short  for  any  complete  reorientation.  The  Comin- 
tern had  become  so  unnecessary  after  1935  that  its  abolition  on  May  22, 
1943,  was  simply  a  gesture,  convenient  to  suggest  the  loyal  acceptance 
by  Communism  of  the  collaboration  against  Nazism. 

COMINFORM  SIGNIFIED  ANTAGONISM 

The  reestablishment  of  the  Comintern  under  the  new  name  of  Com- 
munist Information  Bureau,  shortened  to  Cominform,  announced  on 
October  5,  1947,  was  therefore  very  significant.  It  marked  the  acceptance 
of  the  fact  that  a  new  time  period  had  been  entered  upon  in  which  Com- 
munist activities  would  have  to  be  closely  controlled  and  coordinated  in 
many  countries.  It  also  marked  the  admission  that  it  was  important  to 
have  such  an  organization  even  though  to  reestablish  it  signified  open 
antagonism  on  a  world  scale.  It  also  marked  the  time  when  the  Com- 
munists found  it  necessary  to  have  a  formal  international  organization 
again,  in  order  to  counteract  the  effects  of  too  much  nationalism  in  some 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  33 

of  the  parties  and  countries  where  they  were  in  control.  The  communi- 
que issued  on  October  5,  1947,  stated  clearly  why  the  new  organization 
was  needed. 

A  report  on  the  exchange  of  experience  and  coordination  of  activity  of  Com- 
munist parties  was  made  by  Comrade  Gomulka.  On  this  question,  the  conference, 
having  in  view  the  negative  phenomena  produced  by  the  absence  of  contact  between 
parties  represented  at  the  conference  and  taking  into  consideration  the  necessity  for 
mutual  exchange  and  experience,  has  decided  to  create  an  information  bureau.  (Com- 
munique of  Conference  of  Nine  Communist  Parties  in  Poland,  issued  October  5,  1947.) 

The  possibility  of  avoiding  revolution  finds  one  new  application  in 
the  same  international  situation  that  brought  the  birth  of  the  Comin- 
f  orm.  As  long  ago  as  1924  Stalin  mentioned  that  some  countries,  obviously 
minor  ones  and  not  great  powers,  might  under  special  international  con- 
ditions pass  from  capitalism  to  socialism  without  a  violent  revolution. 
The  meaning  of  this  in  practice  is  illustrated  in  the  countries  we  now 
call  satellites.  The  absence  of  any  hope  of  victory  in  civil  war,  if  civil 
war  were  started  close  under  the  shadow  of  the  Red  Army,  means  that 
"peaceful"  transition  may  be  possible. 

No  doubt  in  the  distant  future,  if  the  proletariat  has  triumphed  in  the  chief 
countries  that  are  now  capitalist,  and  if  the  present  capitalist  encirclement  has  given 
place  to  a  Socialist  encirclement,  it  will  be  possible  for  a  "peaceful"  transition  to  be 
effected  in  certain  capitalist  countries  where  the  capitalists,  in  view  of  the  "unfavor- 
able" international  situation,  will  deem  it  advisable  "of  their  own  accord"  to  make 
extensive  concessions  to  the  proletariat.  But  this  is  to  look  far  ahead,  and  to  contem- 
plate extremely  hypothetical  possibilities.  As  concerns  the  near  future,  there  is  no 
warrant  for  any  such  expectations.  (Stalin,  Leninism,  p.  118.) 

To  call  this  peaceful  transition  by  another  name,  it  is  controlled 
revolution,  with  none  of  the  spontaneity  or  enthusiasm  of  the  great 
historical  revolutions,  and  also,  of  course,  lacking  the  violence  and  blood- 
shed, except  as  the  bloodshed  takes  the  form  of  police  terrorism  after- 
ward. With  the  Red  Army  in  Germany  and  Austria,  the  conditions  of 
' '  Socialist  encirclement ' '  is  conclusive  for  any  ' '  capitalist ' '  elements  in 
some  eastern  European  countries.  The  consequences  have  been  clear,  most 
precisely  in  Czechoslovakia. 

F.      THE  PRESENT  WORLD  SITUATION 

The  world  today  through  Communist  eyes  has  the  same  general 
characteristics  as  in  the  period  between  the  two  World  Wars.  Though 
Communism  has  made  gains,  the  non-Communist  world  is  still  capitalist, 
with  capitalism  evolving  still  along  the  lines  of  imperialism.  The  Second 
World  War  was  an  imperialist  war,  they  assert  now.  Two  of  the  capitalist 
powers,  the  United  States  and  Britain,  eliminated  their  two  greatest  com- 
petitors in  world  markets,  Germany  and  Japan.  This  was  one  aspect  of 
the  war.  The  other  aspect  was  the  attack  on  the  Socialist  fatherland — 
the  Soviet  Union.  The  possibility  of  the  great  imperialist  powers  forming 
a  coalition  against  the  Soviet  Union  failed  only  because  there  were  still 
too  many  such  powers  and  too  serious  issues  to  be  fought  out  between 
them.  Stalin  stated  the  Communist  interpretation  of  the  Second  World 
War  in  a  nutshell  in  his  speech  of  February  9,  1946,  as  follows : 

It  would  be  incorrect  to  think  that  the  war  arose  accidentally  or  as  the  result  of 
the  fault  of  some  of  the  statesmen.  Although  these  faults  did  exist,  the  war  arose 
in  reality  as  the  inevitable  result  of  the  development  of  the  world  economic  and 
political  forces  on  the  basis  of  monopoly  capitalism. 

Our  Marxists  declare  that  the  capitalist  system  of  world  economy  conceals  ele- 
ments of  crisis  and  war,  that  the  development  of  world  capitalism  does  not  follow  a 

2— L-8202 


34  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

steady  and  even  course  forward,  but  proceeds  through  crises  and  catastrophes.  The 
uneven  development  of  the  capitalist  countries  leads  in  time  to  sharp  disturbances  in 
their  relations  and  the  groups  of  countries  which  consider  themselves  inadequately 
provided  with  raw  materials  and  export  markets  try  usually  to  change  this  situation 
and  to  change  the  position  in  their  favor  by  means  of  armed  force. 

As  a  result  of  these  factors,  the  capitalist  world  is  sent  into  two  hostile  camps 
and  war  follows. 

Perhaps  the  catastrophe  of  war  could  have  been  avoided  if  the  possibility  of 
periodic  redistribution  of  raw  materials  and  markets  between  the  countries  existed  in 
accordance  with  their  economic  needs,  in  the  way  of  coordinated  and  peaceful  decisions. 
But  this  is  impossible  under  the  present  capitalist  development  of  world  economy. 

Thus,  as  a  result  of  the  first  crisis  in  the  development  of  the  capitalist  world 
economy,  arose  the  First  World  War.  The  Second  World  War  arose  as  a  result  of  the 
second  crisis. 

The  Communist  explanation  of  why  capitalism,  in  the  imperialist 
phase,  must  lead  to  war  is  spelled  out  most  clearly  in  the  program  of  the 
Comintern  adopted  in  1928  : 

The  growth  of  the  productive  forces  of  world  economy  thus  leads  to  the  further 
internationalization  of  economic  life  and  simultaneously  leads  to  a  struggle  for  redis- 
tribution of  the  world,  already  divided  up  among  the  biggest  finance-capital  states,  to 
a  change  in  and  sharpening  of  the  forms  of  this  struggle  and  to  the  method  of  forcing 
down  prices  being  superseded  to  an  increasing  degree  by  the  method  of  forcible  pressure 
(boycott,  high  protection,  tariff  wars,  wars  proper,  etc.).  Consequently,  the  monopo- 
listic form  of  capitalism  is  inevitably  accompanied  by  imperialist  wars,  which,  by  the 
area  they  embrace  and  the  destructiveness  of  their  technique,  have  no  parallel  in  world 
history. 

The  effect  of  the  Second  World  War  upon  the  structure  of  world 
capitalism  was  formulated  in  the  Manifesto  of  the  Cominform,  published 
on  October  5,  1947  : 

As  long  as  the  war  lasted  the  Allied  states  fighting  against  Germany  and  Japan 
marched  in  step  and  were  one.  Nevertheless,  in  the  Allies'  camp  already  during  the 
war  there  existed  differences  regarding  the  aims  of  the  war  as  well  as  the  objectives 
of  postwar  and  world  organization.  The  Soviet  Union  and  the  democratic  countries 
believed  that  the  main  objective  of  the  war  was  the  building  and  strengthening  of 
democracy  in  Europe,  the  liquidation  of  Fascism,  and  the  prevention  of  a  possible 
aggression  on  the  behalf  of  Germany,  that  its  further  aim  was  an  achievement  of  an 
all-around  and  lasting  cooperation  between  the  nations  of  Europe. 

The  United  States  of  America,  and  with  them  England,  placed  as  their  war  aim  a 
different  goal — the  elimination  of  competition  on  the  world  market  (Germany  and 
Japan)  and  the  consolidation  of  their  dominant  position.  (Cominform  Manifesto, 
Moscow,  October  5,  1947.  Printed  in  supplement  I  to  this  report.) 

The  idea  that  capitalism,  because  of  its  contradictions,  is  subject  to 
recurring  economic  depressions  is  an  essential.  This  now  leads  the  Com- 
munists to  focus  attention  upon  the  coming  American  depression,  which 
they  expect.  A  depression  in  the  United  States  would  not  only  fulfill  this 
prediction,  it  would  bring  the  world  revolution  to  a  climax.  It  might  either 
so  weaken  the  United  States  that  world  capitalism  would  collapse,  or  it 
might  lead  to  an  American  Fascism,  with  a  final  struggle  between  capi- 
talism and  Communism. 

REDS  COUNT  ON  CRISIS  IN  U.  S. 

The  interpretation  of  the  economic  situation  of  the  United  States 
thereby  takes  its  place  as  the  top  priority  problem  for  Soviet  intelligence. 
The  urgency  of  the  problem  for  them  is  such  that  it  has  produced  overt 
controversy  in  Moscow.  The  Varga  incident,  reported  in  the  New  York 
Times  of  January  25,  1948,  is  the  best  evidence  of  this.  Varga  had  for  a 
long  time  been  the  outstanding  Marxist  economist.  His  views  on  the 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  35 

development  of  the  United  States  economy  in  the  near  future  were  appar- 
ently more  hopeful  for  us  and  less  hopeful  for  their  expectations  than 
was  tolerable  to  the  dominant  clique.  This,  more  clearly  than  any  explicit 
statement,  gives  evidence  that  the  dominant  line  in  Moscow  today  is  oased 
on  the  anticipation  of  an  early  crisis  in  the  United  States. 

Aside  from  any  coming  economic  crisis,  the  Communists  believe  that 
the  world  is  even  now  in  a  political  crisis.  The  war  left  unfinished  business 
in  great  areas.  The  limits  of  immediate  Communist  success  have  by  no 
means  been  set.  The  limits  of  capitalist  recovery  and  reconstruction  have 
also  not  been  set.  Much  of  Europe  and  Asia  remains  at  stake,  even  without 
recourse  to  war. 

Vishinsky  's  speech  at  the  United  Nations  General  Assembly  on  Sep- 
tember 18,  1947,  and  Zhdanov's  speech  to  the  Cominform,  published  on 
October  22,  make  this  perfectly  clear.  It  is  this  conception  of  the  present 
situation  that  necessarily  leads  to  a  radical  drive  for  further  Communist 
gains,  at  least  up  to  the  limits  of  cold  warfare.  They  believe  that  large 
areas  of  the  world  are  close  to  revolution  at  the  present  moment. 

The  most  critical  of  all  questions  of  Communist  tactics  is  the  question 
of  the  time  for  revolution.  The  Communists  have  some  reason  for  self- 
satisfaction  in  their  past  handling  of  this  problem.  Lenin's  strategy  in 
October,  1917,  left  little  to  be  desired  in  this  respect.  They  have  genera- 
tions of  thought  and  experience  behind  them  in  which  the  prediction 
of  M-day  for  the  revolution  has  been  their  ultimate  strategical  problem. 
The  general  equation  for  this  problem  was  stated  by  Lenin  long  ago : 

We  may  consider  that  the  time  is  ripe  for  the  decisive  struggle :  When  all  the 
class  forces  arrayed  against  us  are  in  a  state  of  confusion,  are  sufficiently  embroiled 
one  with  another,  have  been  sufficiently  weakened  in  combats  for  which  their  strength 
is  inadequate;  when  all  the  vacillating,  unsteady,  unstable  intermediate  elements  (the 
petty  bourgeoisie,  the  petty  bourgeois  democracy,  in  contradistinction  to  the  bour- 
geoisie) have  exposed  themselves  enough  before  the  people,  have  made  a  sufficient 
parade  of  their  utter  bankruptcy ;  when  there  has  arisen  and  spread  widely  among  the 
proletariat  a  strong  feeling  in  favor  of  decisive  and  unhesitatingly  bold  revolutionary 
action  agaist  the  bourgeoisie.  Then  the  time  is  ripe  for  revolution.  Then,  if  we  have 
kept  good  account  of  the  afore-mentioned  conditions,  and  have  chosen  our  moment  well, 
our  victory  is  assured.  (Lenin,  Works,  Russian  edition,  vol.  XVII,  pp.  180-181,  quoted 
by  Stalin,  Leninism,  p.  152.) 

Its  application  to  the  areas  still  at  issue  between  the  two  worlds  was 
implied  in  every  important  statement  they  have  made  since  June,  1947. 

G.    SUMMARY 

In  summary,  the  Communists  believe  that  the  capitalist  system  must 
create  class  divisions  in  society  on  horizontal  lines ;  that  it  creates  a  clash 
of  interests  between  the  upper  classes  and  the  lower  classes  such  that  a 
monopoly  of  force  is  required  in  society,  and  this  monopoly  of  force  is 
the  state.  The  state  as  the  organ  of  the  upper  classes  to  maintain  and 
defend  the  system  of  exploitation  must  be  destroyed  in  a  revolution 
before  any  fundamental  reform  or  reorganization  of  society  can  occur. 
Only  revolutionary  violence  can  accomplish  this  task,  they  firmly  believe, 
and  it  must  be  followed  by  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat. 

Capitalism  in  its  advanced  stages  takes  the  form  of  imperialism. 
This  means  the  final  division  of  the  world  between  the  capitalist  powers, 
conflict  among  the  capitalist  powers,  and  between  the  capitalist  powers 
and  the  colonial  countries.  It  also  begins,  they  hope,  the  initial  successes 
of  the  revolution  in  one  or  more  countries  and  the  probability  of  conflict 


36  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

between  the  capitalist  group  and  the  Communist  society.  This  leads  to 
compound  wars  of  the  imperialist  powers  against  each  other,  and  of  some 
of  them  against  the  Soviet  Union.  The  eventual  anticipated  end  is  the 
success  of  the  world  revolution. 

The  Soviet  countries  represent  the  main  wing  of  the  revolutionary 
forces,  and  the  Communist  Parties  all  over  the  world  represent  the  sub- 
ordinate wing.  The  conduct  of  the  revolutionary  movement  in  strategy 
and  tactics  is  under  absolute  leadership,  through  the  disciplined  unity 
of  all  the  parties. 

The  Communists  do  not  believe  in  the  possibility  of  world  peace 
before  the  ultimate  revolution.  They  do  not  believe  in  any  solution  of  the 
problem  of  continuous  full  production  before  the  revolution.  They  do  not 
believe  in  the  possibility  of  reconciling  the  advanced  nations  with  the 
backward  or  colonial  countries  before  the  revolution.  Least  of  all  do  they 
believe  in  the  possibility  of  real  collaboration  between  Communist  coun- 
tries and  non-Communist  countries,  except  in  brief  and  special  cir- 
cumstances. 

Their  dogmatic  faith  in  their  system  gives  them  absolute  conviction. 
This,  as  always,  leads  them  to  practice  if  not  preach  that  the  end  justi- 
fies the  means.  This  permits  them  to  regard  all  of  their  minor  assets  as 
expendable  for  the  cause.  They  can,  therefore,  sacrifice  any  Communist 
Party  outside  Russia  for  tactical  advantage.  So  much  the  more  are  they 
ready  to  sacrifice  sympathizers  or  friends  who  are  not  disciplined  Com- 
munists. They  are  ready  to  make  any  alliance  for  temporary  advantage 
and  to  betray  that  alliance  at  the  first  change  in  circumstances.  They  are 
ready  to  use  all  forces  and  all  motives  which  lead,  even  for  a  moment, 
in  the  direction  of  revolution. 

The  revolution  appears,  in  much  of  their  thought  and  writing,  to  be 
the  conclusion  of  a  long  argument.  But  historically  it  is  clear  that  the 
revolution  is  the  one  fundamental  premise  and  that  all  justifying  argu- 
ment is  really  deduction  from  this  premise.  The  revolution  was  firmly 
formulated  in  the  Communist  Manifesto,  the  first  of  their  fundamental 
documents,  100  years  ago.  Through  every  controversy  and  vicissitude  it 
has  been  the  unchanging  heart  of  their  belief.  Every  growth  of  doctrine 
which  strengthened  revolution  was  acceptable,  and  every  growth  of  doc- 
trine which  might  weaken  it  has  been  suppressed  as  heresy. 

The  necessity  for  violent  revolution  is  the  one  principle  of  consis- 
tency in  the  whole  history  of  Communism.  An  attempt  to  interpret  Com- 
munism as  consistent  on  any  other  basis  is  a  failure.  Soviet  policy  and 
Communist  policy,  and  Soviet  action  and  Communist  action,  are  alike 
meant  to  serve  this  single  end.  Economic  and  political  policy  and  action, 
collaboration  on  the  surface  and  subversion  underneath,  a  swing  to  the 
right  in  one  period  and  a  swing  to  the  left  in  another,  are  meant  to  serve 
this  single  end,  the  world  revolution. 

III.  The  Tactics  of  World  Communism 
a.  ends  and  means 
Communist  theory  is  a  theory  of  history,  a  theory  that  offers  a 
Marxist  explanation  for  the  sequence  of  events  in  time ;  a  theory,  there- 
fore, of  cause  and  effect  in  human  affairs.  Any  such  theory  is  also  a 
theory  of  ends  and  means.  If  one  knows  how  to  identify  the  inevitable 
outcome  of  a  great  historical  process  and  feels  that  that  outcome  will  be 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  37 

good,  and  knows  what  are  the  factors  that  cause  the  outcome,  then  one 
is  ready  and  able  to  participate,  making  the  outcome  an  end  and  using 
the  causes  as  means.  This  is  the  heart  and  spur  of  Communist  fanaticism. 

For  any  case  where  men  try  to  effect  the  course  of  history  in  a  radi- 
cal manner,  there  must  be  a  development  of  thought  concerned  with 
causes  and  effects,  a  theory  of  history.  There  must  then  also  be  a  develop- 
ment which  transforms  the  first  into  a  system  of  ends  and  means,  of 
practical  rules  by  which  to  operate.  The  rules  of  practical  action  so 
developed  are  a  system  of  strategy  and  tactics. 

The  characteristic  tactical  thinking  of  Communists  is  concerned  with 
the  method  by  which  to  distinguish  between  apparently  similar  but 
essentially  different  sets  of  circumstances. 

To  aid  and  abet  the  formation  of  a  labor  union  will  generally,  but 
not  always,  advance  the  cause  of  revolution.  When  should  they  aid  it, 
and  when  oppose  itf 

The  rise  of  a  nationalist  movement  will  sometimes  run  to  counter  to 
the  purpose  of  proletarian  revolution  but  will  sometimes  help  to  precipi- 
tate a  crisis  in  another  more  important  country.  "When  should  they  join 
and  promote  such  nationalist  movements,  and  when  should  they  oppose 
them? 

A  strenuous  drive  for  power  will  sometimes  succeed  in  its  objectives, 
and  sometimes  it  will  merely  provoke  a  reaction  and  end  in  failure.  When 
should  they  advance,  when  retreat,  when  mark  time? 

There  may  be  times  when  political  means  to  an  end  are  not  ready 
to  hand,  or  are  blocked  or  already  engaged.  What  other  means  may 
accomplish  the  desired  effect? 

There  may  be  situations  in  which  Soviet  agencies  can  act  to  good 
practical  effect,  and  where  a  local  Communist  Party  can  also  act.  Should 
they  use  the  one  or  the  other,  or  both  ? 

These  are  the  characteristic  questions  that  confront  Communist 
tacticians.  The  answers  to  such  questions  are  the  parts  that  make  up 
their  tactical  system. 

Within  the  wide  variety  of  tactical  variations  that  are  possible  for 
the  Communists,  there  are  four  main  phases.  These  are  :  First,  the  tactics 
of  Soviet  defense;  second,  the  conduct  of  Soviet  foreign  policy;  third, 
the  political  tactics  of  Communism  outside  the  Soviet  Union  and.  Com- 
munist-controlled areas;  fourth,  their  economic  tactics. 

All  of  these  are  used  together,  integrated  and  coordinated  for  com- 
mon goals.  Communists  are  not  dependent  upon  one  or  the  other  of  these 
four  phases  in  their  general  world  strategy  but  work  with  combined 
tactics.  Their  combined  tactics  permit  a  range  of  maneuver  difficult  to 
coordinate  and  control  at  times,  sometimes  getting  out  of  hand.  But  they 
bring  to  its  conduct  experience  and  energy.  At  times  they  show  a  virtu- 
osity that  enables  them  to  surprise  and  out  maneuver  an  enemy  who  does 
not  understand  the  flexibility  and  resourcefulness  of  which  they  are 
capable. 

B.    SOVIET  DEFENSE 

Soviet  defense  policy  imposes  considerations  that  have  a  direct 
effect  upon  Communist  tactics  both  inside  and  outside  of  the  Soviet 
Union. 


38  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

The  first  assumption  of  Soviet  defense  is  the  probability  of  war 
against  the  Soviet  Union. 

The  necessary  second  assumption  is  about  the  strength  of  the  proba- 
ble sides  in  that  war.  On  this  they  are  fully  aware  that  the  United  States 
can  at  present  outproduce  them  and  that  the  United  States  has  an  atomic 
weapon.  But  they  also  expect  that  the  United  States  will  undergo  an 
economic  depression,  while  they  expect  to  continue  their  own  rapid 
development. 

Stalin  fully  explained  in  his  speech  of  February  9,  1946,  how  far 
they  are  willing  to  go  in  order  to  accelerate  the  growth  of  their  own 
fighting  power.  Under  their  5-year  plans  before  the  war  they  consciously 
took  short  cuts  toward  the  development  of  heavy  industry,  through  forced 
labor,  and  succeeded  to  a  great  degree.  They  also  have  the  satisfac- 
tion of  looking  back  on  the  1930 's  as  a  decade  in  which  they  grew  very 
rapidly  in  industrial  strength  while  nearly  all  other  countries  were  in 
economic  stagnation.  Judging  by  their  postwar  statements,  they  hope 
and  expect  to  repeat  this  performance  in  the  future.  This,  taken  by  itself, 
would  incline  them  to  delay  a  war  by  all  means. 

Their  third  major  assumption  is  the  advantage  of  space.  The  effect 
of  space  upon  military  operations  is  more  familiar  to  people  who  work 
in  transportation  than  to  most  people,  but  it  may  be  measured  in  the 
Soviet  case  by  the  effect  on  the  two  great  invasions  by  Napoleon  and 
Hitler.  Air  warfare  has  given  an  added  importance  to  peripheral  space, 
for  this  space  sets  the  distance  that  bombers  must  fly  over  territory 
defended  by  antiaircraft  weapons. 

The  importance  of  strategic  materials,  and  the  awkward  fact  that 
they  are  where  you  find  them  and  not  elsewhere  is  another  given  premise 
of  their  strategy  as  of  any  strategy. 

The  fifth  important  premise  of  their  strategy,  and  unique  to  theirs, 
is  the  assumption  of  two  fronts  in  any  war,  the  formal  military  front, 
and  the  class- war  front  in  all  non-Soviet  countries. 

These  five  factors  lead  directly  to  certain  consequences  at  the  tactical 
level.  In  the  first  place  preparation  for  war  takes  precedence  over  civilian 
welfare,  in  the  Soviet  Union  or  anywhere  else.  They  will  sacrifice  civilian 
interests  to  promote  war  production  at  home  on  the  one  hand,  or  to 
inhibit  war  production  in  countries  they  cannot  control. 

Secondly,  space  considerations  shape  the  political  and  economic 
estimate  they  make  of  any  area.  The  industrial  heart  of  the  Soviet  Union 
in  the  Urals  and  Siberia  has  priority  for  industrial  development  over  any 
area  more  exposed  to  either  invasion  or  air  bombardment.  Any  industrial 
area  in  a  vulnerable  position  must  be  relatively  neglected.  This  applies 
with  special  force  in  the  new  areas  of  Communist  control  in  eastern 
Europe  and  Manchuria.  Skoda  in  Czechoslovakia,  Mannfred-Weiss  in 
Hungary,  and  Resitza  in  Rumania  were  all  heavy-industrj^  developments 
that  might  have  played  a  role  in  the  prosperity  of  their  countries  on  an 
increasing  scale,  even  if  not  in  the  recovery  of  Europe  generally.  But 
dependence  upon  them  would  be  dependence  upon  industries  that  might 
be  lost  as  those  of  the  Don  region  were  to  the  Germans  in  1941  and  1942. 
Those  countries  are,  until  a  great  change  in  the  situation,  therefore 
regarded  as  parts  of  the  Soviets '  cushion  space. 

Outside  the  peripheral  area  under  Soviet  control  lie  the  potential 
staging  areas  for  attack  by  whichever  side  controls  them.  In  Communist 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES   IN  CALIFORNIA  39 

thinking,  Germany  and  Japan  have  just  this  character.  They  are  near 
enough  and  industrially  strong  enough  to  be  capable  of  a  dangerous 
scale  of  attack  in  either  direction  if  given  time  and  opportunity,  and 
with  the  backing  of  either  the  United  States  or  of  the  Soviets.  They  are 
therefore  the  hot  squares  on  the  chessboard. 

The  Soviets  settled  at  Yalta  for  terms  that  gave  them  a  holding 
position,  a  sort  of  veto,  in  Germany,  and  through  their  invasion  of  Man- 
churia a  comparable  opportunity  to  make  sure  Japan,  deprived  of  its 
large  Manchurian  component,  could  not  recover  her  former  strength. 

Beyond  the  potential  staging  areas,  the  points  of  intense  interest  to 
Soviet  defense  are,  as  for  us  as  they  are  for  anyone  else,  those  within 
strategic  bombing  range  of  important  targets.  The  significance  of  Crete 
as  covering  the  eastern  Mediterranean  was  in  part  forgotten  when  Allied 
air  power  made  it  ineffective  in  the  later  years  of  the  war.  For  a  power 
that  could  hold  its  own  in  the  air  it  would  be  very  important  again. 
Tripoli  is  also  a  very  strategic  area  from  the  air-power  point  of  view, 
whether  for  the  advantage  it  would  be  to  the  Soviets  directly,  or  for  the 
advantage  of  denying  its  use  to  us. 

STRATEGIC  MATERIALS 

Strategic  materials,  if  near  by,  are  direct  targets  for  Soviet  acqui- 
sition. The  territory  in  the  north  ceded  by  Finland  after  the  war  includes 
the  most  important  nickel  mines  in  Europe.  Rumanian  oil,  and  Austrian 
oil,  help  take  the  load  of  demand  off  the  overburdened  Soviet  oil  indus- 
try. The  chrome  and  zinc  and  lead  of  eastern  Europe  are  of  importance, 
and  one  of  the  greatest  copper  mines  in  the  world  is  at  Bor,  in  Yugoslavia. 
There  is  also  much  unofficial  news  concerning  the  pitchblende  (uranium 
ore)  deposits  in  Saxony,  and  the  intensive  operations  going  on  there 
under  Soviet  occupation. 

The  Soviets  have  visibly  gone  out  of  their  way  to  gain  control  of 
some  of  these  resources.  In  the  case  of  particidarly  important  strategic- 
material  resources  far  beyond  their  grasp,  there  is  a  task  for  the  foreign 
Communist  parties,  to  deprive  any  enemy  of  the  Soviet  of  such  supplies. 
Bolivian  tin,  and  Congo  copper  and  cobalt  are  illustrations.  The  oil  of 
the  Near  East  is  of  almost  equal  importance  as  a  deprivation  to  us  and  as 
an  asset  to  them  if  they  could  control  it. 

The  maintenance  of  a  police  state  at  home,  and  the  use  of  the  disci- 
plined parties  abroad  for  both  intelligence  and  counterintelligence  is  an 
aspect  of  tactics  arising  out  of  defense  considerations.  It  effects  political 
and  social  conditions  in  all  countries,  and  both  submerges  civil  rights 
in  the  Soviet  Union  and  threatens  them  everywhere  else.  The  power  of 
an  intransigeant  and  well-organized  minority  to  make  civil  rights  impos- 
sible not  only  for  themselves  but  for  others  is  an  extraordinary  thing. 

The  most  superficial,  but  at  the  same  time  significant  aspect  of  their 
police  state  is  the  deep  suspicion  of  foreign  intentions  exhibited  by  Com- 
munists, whether  Russian  or  any  other.  Almost  every  witness  on  United 
States-Soviet  cooperation  during  the  war  testifies  to  instances  where  this 
suspicion  was  the  dominant  force  in  Russian  behavior.  General  Deane 
tells  of  the  Russian  refusal  to  allow  a  group  of  Allied  bombers  to  assist 
in  the  defense  of  Stalingrad,  and  of  the  refusal,  until  the  Teheran  Con- 
ference in  November  1943,  to  tell  the  Allies  anything  of  Red  Army  oper- 
ations. 


40  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

Former  Secretary  Byrnes  tells  of  the  Soviet  readiness  to  assume 
nefarious  motives,  when  they  were  informed  of  the  negotiations  with 
Kesselring  for  surrender  on  the  Italian  front,  and  they  charged  the 
Western  Allies  with  seeking  a  separate  peace. 

The  republication  by  Pravda  of  the  so-called  Cairo  rumor  of  a  sepa- 
rate peace  in  January  1944,  and  Molotov's  query  to  Secretary  Byrnes 
on  the  rumored  gold  hoard  in  Japan  are  other  instances.  This  suspicion 
is  one  side  of  an  isolationism  that  runs  deep,  and  which  is  related  to  their 
development  of  the  different  mentality  and  morality  which  their  theory 
demands  and  of  which  they  boast. 

The  expectation  of  war  and  revolution  requires  this  development 
of  a  separate  and  different  morality.  The  two  together  produce  a  state 
of  mind  of  which  the  police  state  on  the  one  hand,  and  universal  suspi- 
cion of  outsiders  on  the  other,  are  like  the  heads  and  tails  of  the  same  coin. 

In  more  direct  form  the  police  state  and  its  psychology  mean  the 
direction  of  foreign  Communist  parties  through  the  Soviet  police  system 
— the  NKVD,  later  renamed  MVD.  It  is  not  always  possible  to  document 
this  sort  of  thing  publicly,  but  the  record  is  clear  on  the  extraordinary 
rapidity  with  which  all  foreign  Communist  parties  can  adapt  themselves 
to  new  party  lines.  The  classic  instance  was  the  shift  that  occurred  in  the 
world  Communist  press  in  August  1939,  when  the  Nazi-Soviet  pact  was 
announced.  Other  such  changes  have  occurred  in  wheeling  the  ranks  from 
pro  to  eon  on  leading  political  figures.  This  control  goes  deeper  than  the 
propaganda  line,  however,  as  was  exhibited  more  than  once  when  the 
Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  or  of  other  countries,  has  been 
forced  to  change  not  only  its  line  but  also  its  leaders  under  directions 
given  from  outside. 

(See  Pages  164-166  for  specific  citations.) 

The  police  state  within  the  Soviet  Union  is  not  very  well  known 
through  any  official  documents,  for  obvious  reasons.  There  are  at  least 
a  few  indisputable  facts,  however.  The  NKVD  has  announced  on  occa- 
sion that  it  has  completed  a  big  construction  project  somewhere.  This 
means  slave  labor,  on  a  big  scale.  And  in  June  1946,  they  announced  that 
they  had  moved  large  numbers  of  people  out  of  the  Crimea,  on  charges 
of  collaboration  with  the  Nazis  during  the  war.  The  important  feature 
of  this  case  was  that  until  they  announced  the  completion  of  the  moAre 
there  was  no  report  of  it  whatever;  the  outside  world  did  not  know  it 
was  occurring. 

The  testimony  of  many  who  recently  have  fled  the  Soviet ' '  paradise ' ' 
also  is  replete  with  reports  of  police  state  terror. 

All  of  these  phenomena  have  one  common  basis,  the  assumption  that 
another  war  is  probable,  and  that  the  Soviet  Union  is  the  prime  asset  of 
the  Communists  for  the  world  revolution,  overriding  all  other  consid- 
erations. The  Soviet  Union  is  the  main  task  force  of  Communism.  The 
satellites  and  foreign  Communists  are  the  protective  screen,  expendable 
at  any  time  for  the  security  of  the  main  force. 

C.    SOVIET  FOREIGN  POLICY 

Soviet  foreign  policy,  like  their  defense  policy,  begins  with  the 
assumption  of  inevitable  war.  It  is  the  particular  function  of  the  Soviet 
Foreign  Office  in  the  grand  strategy  of  the  world  revolution  to  play  an 
intermediate  role  between  that  of  the  Red  Army  on  the  one  hand  and 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  41 

the  Communist  Parties  on  the  other  in  creating  the  conditions  necessary 
for  Communist  victory. 

First  of  all,  since  the  Communists  assume  that  "time  is  on  their 
side ' '  the  problem  is  to  delay  a  war. 

Second,  since  the  result  of  the  Second  World  War  has  greatly 
reduced  the  number  of  strong  capitalist  states,  leaving  only  the  United 
States  and  Britain  where  there  were  formerly  five,  the  probability  of  a 
great  war  among  the  capitalist  powers  is  relatively  reduced,  and  the 
probability  of  coalition  against  the  Soviets  relatively  greater.  This  calls 
for  planning  for  some  time  to  come  designed  to  maintain  the  indepen- 
dence of  as  many  capitalist  states  as  possible,  and  as  much  anti-Amer- 
ican feeling  as  possible,  in  order  to  restore  the  likelihood  of  a  war  between 
capitalist  states. 

Thirdly,  the  Soviet  would  prefer  a  one-front  war,  militarily.  They 
succeeded  in  limiting  their  engagement  in  the  Second  World  War  to 
one  front  at  a  time,  an  achievement  matched  by  no  other  government. 

The  Communists  prefer  a  later  war  to  an  earlier  one.  They  prefer 
a  capitalist  war,  with  the  Soviet  in  on  one  side,  to  a  straight  Communist  - 
anti-Communist  war.  They  prefer  a  one-front  war  to  a  two-front  war. 
With  these  objectives  or  standards  in  mind,  it  is  the  task  of  the  Soviet 
Foreign  Office  to  use  all  means  of  a  diplomatic  or  related  nature  to 
attain  them. 

The  range  of  variation  in  tactics,  by  time  periods  of  offense  and 
defense,  by  geographic  zones,  by  choice  of  techniques,  and  by  choice  of 
agencies,  applies  to  foreign  policy  as  well  as  to  Communist  tactics  in 
general.  But  the  classification  of  areas  is  not  the  same  for  the  Foreign 
Office  as  for  defense  policy  or  for  local  Communist  Parties. 

In  Turkey,  for  example,  the  Foreign  Office  must  carry  a  burden, 
which  in  France  or  Italy  might  be  shared,  or  shouldered,  by  the  local 
Communists.  A  nearby  country  is  naturally  more  impressed  by  the  Red 
Army  as  an  ultimate  weapon,  but  may  also  have  a  weak  Communist 
Party,  or  none  at  all. 

A  more  remote  country  may  be  outside  any  consideration  of  defen- 
sive space,  yet  be  particularly  vulnerable  because  of  a  strong  local  Com- 
munist Party.  In  general,  therefore,  their  foreign  policy  is  simply  one 
of  several  means  available  for  any  given  end,  and  the  use  of  foreign- 
policy  methods  varies  in  a  way  that  may  be  unaccountable  unless  this 
is  recalled. 

Also,  their  foreign  policy  is  based  on  the  assumption  that  depres- 
sion, stagnation,  or  collapse  in  any  area  not  yet  under  Soviet  control 
can  be  no  disadvantage  to  the  cause  of  the  revolution.  They  have  no 
expectation  of  taking  over  any  prosperous  country  under  any  circum- 
stances. The  doctrine  of  the  state  and  revolution,  the  heart  of  Leninism, 
requires  the  destruction  of  the  old  state,  and  only  for  an  encircled 
country  is  there  any  idea  of  reasonably  peaceful  transition. 

And,  finally,  as  in  all  other  activities,  they  assume  that  the  world 
revolution  is  the  foundation  of  a  morality  both  different  and  superior, 
in  which  the  end  justifies  all  means. 

Within  the  general  framework  given  by  these  assumptions  or  con- 
ditions, their  foreign  policy  has  certain  definite  targets;  in  brief,  to 


42  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

expand  the  area  of  Soviet  control,  and  beyond  that,  the  circle  of  influ- 
ence ;  to  prevent  an  anti-Soviet  coalition ;  to  encourage  colonial  rebel- 
lions; to  weaken  all  uncontrollable  areas;  to  postpone  war  for  the  time 
being ;  and  to  avoid  a  two-front  war. 

The  practical  workings  of  Soviet  diplomacy,  assisted  occasionally 
by  propaganda  from  Moscow,  or  by  local  party  activities,  make  use  of 
a  variety  of  devices. 

THE  IRON  CURTAIN 

The  Iron  Curtain,  as  a  shield  across  all  controlled  as  well  as  purely 
Soviet  areas  is  a  successful  means  of  reducing  authoritative  public  knowl- 
edge of  what  they  are  doing.  This  was  one  of  the  reasons  why  the  publi- 
cation of  Mr.  Byrnes'  book  was  valuable,  since  much  of  what  he  knew, 
and  which  would  have  been  publicly  known  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, was  known  only  to  official  agencies  and  could  not  be  published 
by  them.  The  story  he  tells  of  Vishinsky  's  demand  for  a  cabinet  change 
in  Rumania  is  an  example  of  what  they  can  do  behind  a  veil  of  secrecy 
that  they  could  not  do,  or  not  so  readily,  in  the  open.  {Speaking  Frankly, 
p.  51,  Vishinsky 's  intervention  occurred  on  February  27,  1945;  and 
see  his  foreword  for  his  own  statement  of  the  reasons  for  publishing.) 

In  ordinary  negotiations  they  display  a  fine  attention  to  the  differ- 
ence between  those  parts  of  an  agreement  that  will  be  certain  to  take 
effect,  and  those  that  can  be  evaded  or  delayed. 

The  Yalta  agreement,  for  example,  gave  them  a  hold  in  Germany, 
with  an  understanding  that  Germany  would  be  united  for  economic  pur- 
poses. The  Soviet  secured  its  occupation  zone  most  definitely,  and  ever 
since  has  blocked  the  economic  unification  on  grounds  that  some  other 
clauses  had  not  been  fulfilled. 

In  the  agreement  to  enter  the  far-eastern  war,  the  Soviet  objectives 
were  immediately  and  practically  attainable,  while  the  Soviet  obligations 
were  easy  to  avoid  or  postpone.  "Whenever  an  agreement  with  these  char- 
acteristics could  be  made  they  have  shown  a  readiness  to  make  it. 

They  also  show  a  very  agreeable  readiness  to  accept  anything  that 
gives  us  an  advantage  that  they  cannot  in  any  case  prevent,  and  which 
commits  us  to  a  position  of  which  they  can  make  propaganda  use.  The 
Soviet  acquiescence  to  the  United  States  trusteeship  in  the  Pacific  islands 
falls  in  this  class.  They  made  use  of  timing  for  ironical  effect  in  this 
instance,  announcing  their  agreement  to  the  trusteeship  on  March  31, 
1947,  on  the  very  heels  of  our  protests  to  them  concerning  Hungary,  on 
March  1  and  March  17. 

They  display  a  tactical  readiness  to  make  agreements  whenever  there 
is  no  special  reason  against  them.  The  more  agreements  they  can  make, 
of  an  inconsequential  kind,  the  more  they  can  maintain  the  propaganda 
pretense  that  real  disagreements  are  not  their  fault.  The  more  agreements 
grant  advantages  for  us  that  they  are  in  any  case  incapable  of  prevent- 
ing, the  more  credit  they  can  claim,  either  in  later  diplomacy  or  through 
propaganda.  This  holds  especially  true  whenever  they  can  assist  us  to 
commit  ourselves  to  anything  that  they  are  fairly  sure  will  prove  to  be 
an  embarrassing  mistake.  Some  of  the  conduct  of  postwar  diplomacy  is 
scarcely  explicable  on  any  other  ground. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  43 

PROPAGANDA  MIXED  WITH  DIPLOMACY 

Ever  since  their  very  first  effort  in  diplomacy,  vis-a-vis  the  Germans 
at  Brest-Litovsk  in  1918,  they  have  mixed  propaganda  with  diplomacy. 

Secretary  Marshall  took  note  of  this  at  the  London  Conference  of 
Foreign  Ministers  in  December  1947  as  General  Max  von  Hoffmann  had 
at  Brest-Litovsk  in  1918.  This  includes  the  use  of  liberal  slogans  and 
nationalist  slogans  against  liberals  and  nationalists,  abusive  attacks  on 
their  opponents'  motives,  and  all  the  other  tricks  that  go  with  propaganda 
addressed  to  a  wider  audience  than  the  conference  in  process. 

Their  tactics  in  international  organizations  have  a  special  character 
that  has  been  too  little  appreciated,  though  sometimes  fully  explained 
by  themselves.  The  comment  by  Pravda  concerning  Soviet  participation 
in  the  Commission  on  European  Union  in  1931,  quoted  above  (p.  XX) 
overtly  declares  that  they  participated  in  that  Commission  in  order  to 
prevent  it  from  accomplishing  anything  against  their  interests.  Lenin 
defined  their  interest  in  European  union  in  his  claim  that  a  United  States 
of  Europe  under  capitalism  "is  either  impossible  or  reactionary."  It  is 
apparent  that  to  prevent  anything  against  their  interests  means  to  pre- 
vent any  federation  of  Europe.  Their  role  in  international  organizations 
generally  has  this  color. 

There  are  exceptions,  such  as  the  World  Health  Organization,  where 
they  as  others  stand  to  gain  by  interchange  of  information  and  by  estab- 
lishment of  standards  and  uniform  regulations,  and  where  the  rest  of 
the  world  stands  to  gain  by  their  participation.  But  their  membership 
in  the  League  of  Nations  was  primarily  intended  to  prevent  the  League 
from  serving  as  an  anti-Soviet  instrument. 

Their  membership  in  the  United  Nations,  with  their  veto  power  in 
the  Security  Council  is  their  guaranty  that  the  UN  cannot  be  used  against 
them,  unless  or  until  the  Charter  can  be  amended.  This  leaves  the  very 
difficult  and  laborious  process  of  amending  the  Charter  against  their 
opposition,  or  of  establishing  a  new  organization,  as  an  impediment  to 
any  use  of  an  international  organization  against  their  interests.  In  world 
politics  today  this  amounts  to  a  first  line  of  defense.  Any  idea  that  they 
would  abandon  the  advantage  this  gives  them  is  in  a  class  with  the  idea 
that  they  might  reduce  their  air  force. 

Their  enthusiastic  entry  into  the  UNO  contrasts  with  their  stubborn 
opposition  to  the  Baruch  proposals  for  control  of  atomic  energy.  If  one 
examines  the  Baruch  proposals,  in  their  underlying  assumptions,  it  is 
apparent  that  they  assume  the  possibility  of  peace  for  an  indefinite  time. 

To  Communists  this  would  require  the  further  assumption  that  the 
United  States  is  not  prerevolutionary,  but  postrevolutionary  in  char- 
acter. This  is  an  impossible  thing  for  them  to  accept.  They  simply  cannot 
believe  in  any  proposition  based  on  stability  and  peace.  Since  they  also 
consider  war  to  be  avoidable  for  the  time  being,  and  atomic  weapons 
attainable  for  them  within  a  reasonable  time,  they  know  no  reason  for 
accepting  a  control  system  that  would  bar  them  from  acquiring  the  know- 
how  for  production  of  atomic  weapons  when  we  already  have  it. 

The  proposal  by  Secretary  Byrnes,  for  a  four-power  pact  against 
future  German  aggression,  is  parallel  to  the  problem  of  international 
control  of  atomic  energy.   (Speaking  Frankly,  p.  171.)   The  proposal 


44  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

amounts  to  international  control  of  Germany  through  a  guaranty  of 
joint  inspection  to  prevent  German  armaments,  and  joint  action  in  case 
of  violation.  Like  the  Baruch  proposals,  this  makes  no  sense  unless  one 
can  assume  stability  and  peace  between  the  United  States  and  the  Soviet 
for  a  long  time  to  come,  and  like  the  Baruch  proposals,  it  proved  unac- 
ceptable to  Molotov,  though  at  one  time  endorsed  informally  by  Stalin. 
The  Soviet  judgment  on  this  proposal,  was  stated  by  Tass,  the  Soviet 
news  agency. 

A  possible  paper  certain  to  hide  a  retreat  from  agreements  made  at  the  time  of 
Germany's  capitulation  last  year,  a  possible  attempt  to  divert  attention  from  the 
Ruhr  problems,  a  dangerous  weakeniug  of  the  machinery  already  set  up  to  guarantee 
Germany's  disarmament  and  one  more  maneuver  that  was  introducing  superfluous 
difficulties  for  the  Foreign  Ministers  Council  in  Paris. 

Their  attitude  on  international  organizations,  judging  by  the  cases, 
may  be  denned  as  follows :  Join  any  organization  that  has  politically 
neutral  service  junctions;  join  any  organization  that  might  take  action 
contrary  to  Soviet  interest  in  the  absence  of  Soviet  participation;  join 
no  organization  that  might  interfere  with  Soviet  reliance  on  its  own 
strength  in  an  ultimate  show-down. 

Such  are  the  guiding  principles  by  which  they  act.  There  is  one  way 
in  which  to  judge  how  effective  their  foreign  policy,  and  their  conduct 
of  it,  tactically,  has  been.  That  is  to  examine  what  they  have  gained  or 
lost  by  it  in  the  past.  On  this  the  record  is  rich. 

Since  1939  they  have  gained  the  following  territories  by  annexation, 
naming  them  in  order  from  north  to  south  in  Europe:  Petsamo,  Karelia, 
Esthonia,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Koenigsberg,  Eastern  Poland,  Buthenia, 
Bukovina,  Bessarabia.  In  the  East  they  have  gained  the  Kuriles  and 
southern  Sakhalin  and  Dairen.  They  also  hold  until  further  notice  the 
Soviet  zones  of  occupation  in  Germany,  Austria,  and  Korea. 

Aside  from  direct  Soviet  control,  they  have  brought  under  control 
of  the  local  Communists,  supported  by  the  Soviet,  the  countries  we  now 
regard  as  Soviet  satellites,  namely:  Poland,  Hungary,  Rumania,  Bul- 
garia, Yugoslovia,  and  Albania,  and  since  February  1948,  Czechoslo- 
vakia. In  these  countries  the  effectiveness  of  Communist  tactics  is  the 
resultant  of  Soviet  foreign  policy  coupled  with  the  tactics  of  native  Com- 
munists, giving  the  wonderful  opportunity  to  use  each  for  whatever  the 
other  cannot  accomplish,  or  for  which  either  one  cannot  conveniently 
accept  responsibility. 

Outside  of  any  areas  under  direct  Communist  control,  there  lie  the 
prime  targets  of  pressure,  in  the  present  phase  called  cold  war.  To  list 
these  is  a  special  measure  of  Soviet  gains,  for  it  is  a  list  that  lay  beyond 
their  grasp  a  few  years  ago. 

In  the  west  these  targets  are  the  Turkish  Straits  and  the  provinces 
of  Kars  and  Ardahan  in  eastern  Turkey,  Greece,  northwestern  Iran,  and 
Germany. 

Germany  is  the  prime  target  on  the  western  front  of  the  Soviets, 
the  acknowledged  key  to  Europe.  The  other  three,  if  gained,  would  dom- 
inate the  whole  of  the  Near  East.  In  Germany  they  have  the  advantages 
of  position  gained  at  Yalta  and  Potsdam. 

In  Greece  and  Iran  they  have  only  the  weapons  of  diplomacy  and 
local  Communists,  backed  up  by  Soviet-controlled  territory  adjacent, 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  45 

In  the  case  of  Turkey  they  must  use  Soviet  leverage  and  nothing 
else.  In  the  east  they  are  pressing  on  China,  a  special  case  where  tactics 
are  more  varied,  and  more  resources  are  applicable  than  anywhere  else. 

Beyond  the  immediate  targets  of  pressure  lie  the  areas  where  Com- 
munist influnce  and  strength  are  much  greater  than  before  the  war.  The 
prime  examples  are  France  and  Italy,  but  Syria,  India,  Indochina,  Indo- 
nesia, and  Latin  America  all  reflect  increased  Communist  resources. 

Still  farther  from  Soviet  control  or  serious  constant  pressure  are 
certain  areas  that  are  not  centers  of  strong  native  Communist  movements, 
nor  important  targets  of  strategic  attack,  yet  are  vulnerable  to  pressure 
as  occasion  may  demand.  The  Scandinavian  countries,  with  their  depend- 
ence on  Baltic  trade  are  examples,  with  Finland  and  Sweden  the  most 
vulnerable. 

In  addition  to  control  or  influence,  the  Soviets  have  treaties  of  alli- 
ance, of  which  those  with  Britain  and  France  are  most  important,  serving 
in  each  case  as  a  partial  bar  to  anti-Soviet  action  by  the  other  party.  And 
once  again,  the  Soviet  membership  in  the  United  Nations,  and  their  per- 
manent seat  with  veto  in  the  Security  Council  must  be  mentioned.  For 
this  is  worth  more  to  them  in  the  balance  of  'power  than  any  of  the  terri- 
tories they  have  annexed,  or  of  the  satellites  they  dominate. 

In  conclusion  one  must  say  that  the  conduct  of  Soviet  foreign  policy 
as  one  element  in  the  tactics  of  world  revolution  has  had  considerable 
success,  and  to  be  consistent,  one  must  say  that  it  has  been  conducted 
with  considerable  skill.  It  is  designed  to  take  care  of  the  interests  of  the 
Soviets  and  of  world  Communism,  not  just  the  Soviets. 

It  makes  very  skillful  use  of  a  combined  strategy  that  matches  the 
virtuosity  of  the  Nazis  in  recourse  to  propaganda  combined  with  the 
fifth  column  and  the  looming  threat  of  arms  to  support  diplomacy.  It  is 
not  designed  to  assist  in  any  project  for  stability  and  progress  otherwise 
than  through  world  Communism  after  the  revolution.  It  is  designed, 
especially  through  membership  in  international  organizations,  to  impede 
such  projects. 

Our  reluctance  to  face  the  facts  concerning  Soviet  policy,  when  they 
have  done  their  best  to  make  its  nature  explicit,  is  parallel  to  our  earlier 
failure  to  recognize  the  menace  of  Nazi  ambitions  when  they  were  plain 
in  the  text  of  Hitler 's  book.  This  reflects  our  disbelief  in  the  capacity  of 
dogmatists,  especially  if  they  take  their  dogma  for  a  science,  to  think  in 
theoretical  terms  and  to  believe  in  their  own  theories. 

D.    THE  POLITICAL  TACTICS  OF  COMMUNISM 

The  material  basis  of  Communist  political  tactics  outside  the  Soviet 
Union  is  the  strength  of  the  parties.  Information  on  the  strength  of  all 
the  Communist  parties  in  the  world  was  contained  in  the  list  made  public 
at  the  conference  of  Communist  parties  held  in  London  early  in  1947. 


46  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

STRENGTH   OF  COMMUNIST  PARTIES 
[From  New  York  Times,  March  16,  1947] 

America 

Country  Party  name 

Argentina Communist 

Brazil Communist 

Canada Labor-Progressives 

Chile Communist 

Colombia Democrat  Socialist 

Costa  Rica Vanguardia  Populair 

Cuba Popular  Socialist 

Ecuador Communist 

Haiti Popular  Socialist 

Martinique Communist 

Mexico Communist 

Nicaragua Partido  Socialista 

Panama Partido  del  Pueblo 

Paraguay Communist 

Peru Communist 

Puerto  Rico Communist 

United  States Communist 

Uruguay Communist 

Santo  Domingo Populair  Socialist 

Venezuela Communist 


Party     Members  of 

members  legislature 

30,000 

130,000 

17 

23,000 



50,000 

20 

10,000 

2 

20,000 

6 

152,000 

12 

2,500 

500 

1 

__ 

2 

25,000 

500 

500 

8,000 

_ 

35,000 

5 

1,200  • 



74.000 

15,000 

5 

2,000 



20,000 

2 

Asia 

Burma Communist 4,000 

Ceylon Communist 

China Communist 2,000,000 

Cyprus Akel 4,000 

India Communist 53,700 

Indonesia Communist 

Japan Communist 6,000 

Korea Communist 50,000 

Lebanon Communist 15,000 

Malaya Communist 10,000 

Palestine Communist 1,400 

Philippines Communist 

Siam Communist 

Syria Communist 8,000 

Australasia 

Australia Communist 

New  Zealand Communist 


Europe 
U.  S.  S.  R Communist 

Albania Communist 

Austria Communist 

Belgium Communist 

Britain Communist 

Bulgaria ^ Workers'  Party 

Czechoslovakia Communist 1,000,000 

Denmark Communist 

Finland Communist 

France Communist 1,300,000 

Germany  (Soviet) Socialist  Unity 

Germany  (Western) Communist 

Greece Communist 

Hungary Communist 

Iceland United  Socialist 

Ireland  (Northern) Communist 

Italy Communist 


25,000 

1 

2,000 

~ 

6,000,000 

— 

150,000 

~4 

100,000 

23 

43,000 

2 

450,000 

278 

1,000,000 

115 

60,000 

18 

28,000 

41 

1,300,000 

1,576,300 



350,000 

400,000 



650,000 

70 

1,000 

10 

500 

2,200,000 

108 

UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  47 

STRENGTH   OF  COMMUNIST  PARTIES— Continued 

Europe — Continued 

Party     Members  of 

Country                                              Party  name  members  legislature 

Luxemburg Communist 5,000 

Netherlands Communist 50,000                 15 

Norway Communist 33,000                  11 

Poland Workers'  Party 600,000 

Portugal Communist 

Rumania Communist 500,000                 68 

Slovakia Communist 250,000 

Spain Communist 

Sweden Communist 46,000 

Switzerland Parti  du  Travail 21,000                   1 

Africa 

Algeria Communist 

Eritrea Communist 200 

Morocco Communist 

South  Africa Communist 

Tunisia Communist 

Total 18,592,300 

Note. — The  United  Press  released  on  May  26,  1947,  a  list  showing  the  strength 
of  Communist  Parties  all  over  the  world.  It  differs  sharply  from  the  above  list  on  a 
few  countries  only,  with  higher  figures  for  Bulgaria  and  Czechoslovakia  and  lower 
for  a  few  others. 

As  a  measure  of  comparative  strength  the  above  list  is  not  entirely 
satisfactory.  It  indicates,  for  example,  that  the  Italian  party  is  much 
larger  than  the  French,  yet  it  is  also  a  matter  of  fact  that  the  French 
party  can  swing  a  larger  electoral  vote  than  the  Italian,  about  28  to  30 
percent  in  France  against  about  19  percent  in  Italy.  Such  discrepancies 
as  this  arise  out  of  differences  in  strictness  of  enforcement  of  the  Lenin- 
ist policy  on  membership.  Party  membership  in  most  countries  is  also 
subject  to  sharp  fluctuations,  due  to  membership  drives,  followed  by 
purges,  or  by  periods  in  which  the  less  faithful  are  allowed  to  drift  away. 

The  obvious  coordination  of  the  activities  of  Communist  Parties  with 
those  of  the  Soviet  Government  has  made  trouble  ever  since  the  First 
"World  War.  The  Soviet  Government  made  a  large  number  of  treaties 
with  various  countries  in  which  there  was  mutual  acceptance  of  an 
obligation  not  to  carry  on  or  assist  movements  designed  to  overthrow 
the  other  government.  These  were  not  purely  hypocritical  on  the  side  of 
the  Soviets.  In  the  decade  after  the  war  there  were  remnants  in  many 
countries  from  the  defeated  White  Russian  or  anti-Bolshevik  movements. 
The  Soviets  were  genuinely  anxious  to  obtain  agreements  that  would 
bind  their  neighbors  not  to  assist  such  groups. 

The  Communists  within  each  country  for  the  last  12  years  have 
tended  to  emphasize  national  patriotism  in  their  tactics  and  propaganda. 

It  was  in  1935  that  the  Seventh  Congress  of  the  Comintern  adopted 
the  "national  traditions"  line  emphasizing  the  heritage  of  the  French 
Revolution  in  France,  of  Washington  and  Lincoln  in  the  United  States, 
and  so  forth.  The  transition  from  their  former  antipatriotic  pose  was  a 
contributing  factor  in  the  1930 's  to  the  idea  that  they  were  becoming 
more  conservative.  An  interesting  thing  about  this  adoption  of  nationalist 
or  patriotic  slogans  is  that  it  has  now  persisted  through  several  major 
shifts  of  general  policy. 


48  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

During  the  two  years  of  the  Nazi-Soviet  Pact,  Communist  Parties 
did  not  drop  their  patriotic  pretenses  of  the  Popular  Front  period,  but 
gave  them  an  isolationist  color,  advocating  that  their  countries  should 
keep  out  of  the  "imperialist  war."  During  the  alliance  against  Nazism 
they  of  course  intensified  their  use  of  patriotic  slogans  in  all  countries. 
But  since  the  end  of  the  war  they  have  not  changed  this  particular  line, 
(until  recently)  while  they  have  changed  their  major  strategy  and 
tactics  entirely. 

THE  NATIONAL  SOVEREIGNTY  LINE 

The  reason  for  this  has  several  aspects,  yet  is  very  simple  in  its  logic. 

First,  the  veto  in  the  United  Nations  is  the  safeguard  for  the  Soviets 
against  adverse  action,  and  the  veto  rests  on  the  old  doctrine  of  sov- 
ereignty. The  freedom  of  Russia  from  international  control  is  there- 
fore facilitated  by  insistence  upon  sovereignty,  and  numerous  statements 
by  Soviet  leaders  in  the  United  Nations  and  elsewhere  have  insisted  that 
the  sovereignty  of  all  nations  must  be  preserved. 

Second,  the  doctrine  of  sovereignty  serves  as  a  barrier  to  such  proj- 
ects as  atomic-energy  control,  and  is  so  used.  Molotov  in  addressing  the 
United  Nations  General  Assembly  on  October  29,  1946,  and  Gromyko 
before  the  Security  Council  on  March  5,  1947,  both  urged  the  necessity 
of  the  principle  of  unanimity  of  the  great  powers,  the  importance  of  the 
veto,  and  the  origin  of  the  veto  in  an  initiative  taken  by  the  United  States. 

Third,  the  slogans  of  sovereignty  and  patriotism  have  a  strong 
appeal  in  drumming  up  opposition  to  the  Marshall  plan,  on  the  ground 
that  it  represents  American  interference  in  the  recipient  countries. 

As  the  Manifesto  of  the  Cominform,  published  on  October  5,  1947, 
declares : 

If  the  Communist  parties  stand  fast  on  their  outposts,  if  they  refuse  to  be 
intimidated  and  blackmailed,  if  they  courageously  guard  over  the  democracy,  national 
sovereignty,  independence  and  self-determination  of  their  countries,  if  they  know  how 
to  fight  against  attempts  at  the  economic  and  political  subjugation  of  their  countries 
and  place  themselves  at  the  head  of  all  the  forces  ready  to  defend  the  cause  of  national 
honor  and  independence,  then  and  then  only  no  plans  to  subjugate  the  countries  of 
Europe  and  Asia  can  succeed. 

Fourth,  it  serves  as  a  high-sounding  indirect  approach  for  the  tactics 
of  "divide  and  rule."  The  Soviets  have  much  to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose 
by  preserving  the  anarchy  of  the  old  system  of  too  many  little  states  with 
no  common  organization.  They  have  no  desire  for  any  positive  collabo- 
ration among  nations  until  they  are  ripe  for  the  "revolution."  They 
carry  this  to  the  length  of  advocating,  as  Tito  did  on  June  4,  1945, 
"Carinthia  is  ours,  and  we  will  fight  for  her,"  while  at  the  same  time 
Italian  Communists  were  stoutly  defending  the  right  of  Italy  in  the  same 
territory. 

Fifth,  they  are  particularly  anxious  that  civil  war  should  he  possible, 
and  do  not  wish  any  international  regulation  that  might  interfere. 
Gromyko,  in  the  debate  on  Spain  in  the  Security  Council  of  the  United 
Nations,  on  April  25,  1946,  declared  in  this  connection  : 

Mr.  Stettinius  *  *  *  pointed  out  that  one  of  the  aims  (of  the  United  States 
Government)  *  *  *  was  to  avoid  a  repetition  of  the  civil  war  that  had  taken  place 
in  Spain. 

I  do  not  wish  to  go  into  detail  into  an  analysis  of  this  problem.  It  is  known  that 
civil  wars  in  some  countries  have  not  always  had  bad  results.  For  example,  the  his- 
torical place  and  significance  of  the  Civil  War  in  the  United  States  is  well  known. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  49 

Sixth,  the  doctrine  of  sovereignty  is  of  the  utmost  importance  in  such 
operations  as  those  by  which  Communist  control  was  consolidated  in 
Hungary  and  Romania  in  the  spring  of  1947.  The  Soviet  Government 
stands  back  and  declares  that  it  is  not  responsible  for  the  events  that 
occur.  The  new  Communist  government  is  definitely  a  de  facto  govern- 
ment. Having  experimented  with  direct  seizure,  as  in  the  Baltic  States, 
it  is  clear  that  a  controlled  and  orderly  revolution  under  the  shield  of 
the  sovereignty  of  the  country  concerned  is  preferable.  They  had  some 
experience  with  this  technique  in  Mongolia  in  the  inter-war  period, 
neatly  excising  Mongolia  from  China  while  giving  no  opening  to  serious 
charges  against  the  Soviet  Government.  As  an  authority  on  Soviet  foreign 
relations  describes  that  situation, 

By  maneuvering  in  such  a  way  as  to  prevent  coalition  between  Chinese  and 
Mongols,  Russia  was  able  to  rule  Mongolia  by  pretending  that  the  Mongols  were 
free,  and  also  to  keep  the  rest  of  the  world  from  interfering  with  its  monopoly, 
by  allowing  it  to  be  inferred  that  the  Mongols  were  not  free. 

Here  are  six  distinct  motives  or  ends,  all  of  which  can  he  served  by 
a  single  means,  the  advocacy  of  national  sovereignty.  On  only  one 
occasion  since  the  war  have  they  slipped  and  talked  the  other  way, 
so  far  as  has  been  noticed.  That  was  at  the  time  of  debate  in  the  United 
Nations  Security  Council  over  the  crisis  in  Indonesia,  just  before  the 
Iranian  crisis.  Mr.  Vishinsky,  on  the  10th  of  February,  1946,  in  address- 
ing the  Council  rejected  the  plea  that  to  send  a  Commission  from  the 
United  Nations  would  intrude  upon  the  sovereignty  of  the  Netherlands. 

I  think  that  we  have  to  consider  the  relative  importance  of  the  maintenance  of 
the  strict  sovereignty  of  national  states  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  interests  of 
the  United  Nations ;  and  I  would  ask  whether  the  United  Nations  can  be  an  effec- 
tive organ  if  national  sovereignty  is  not  limited.  The  nations  must  sacrifice  a  part 
of  their  sovereignty  if  the  United  Nations  is  to  be  a  real  and  effective  organ. 

In  this  particular  case,  the  rule  of  favoring  colonial  rebellion  was  the 
one  followed,  and  it  may  be  presumed  that  sovereignty,  as  they  defend 
it,  does  not  extend  to  the  sovereignty  of  colonial  powers  over  their 
colonies. 

DIVIDE  AND  RULE  TACTICS 

"Within  any  country,  under  their  ultrapatriotic  slogans,  they  pur- 
sue the  tactics  indicated  for  them  by  Lenin's  Left-wing  Communism. 
That  means  that  they  infiltrate,  divide,  and  so  far  as  possible,  rule.  This 
tactic  applies  from  the  level  of  the  national  legislature  down  to  the 
neighborhood  club. 

In  any  national  legislature  in  which  they  have  substantial  repre- 
sentation their  power  is  very  great.  It  is  not  always  understood  why  it 
is  that  10  to  20  percent  of  a  body,  at  odds  with  all  the  rest,  can  exercise 
any  influence.  The  answer  lies  in  the  fact  that  any  group  such  as  .a 
legislature  ordinarily  divides  by  not  more  than  two-thirds  against  one- 
third.  More  extreme  divisions  may  occur,  but  are  less  common. 

To  give  an  obstructionist  party  20  percent  of  the  votes,  and  then 
to  try  to  legislate,  needing  51  percent  of  the  votes,  means  to  rally  51 
out  of  80,  or  64  percent.  If  the  Communists  have  30  percent,  it  then 
takes  about  72  percent  of  the  remaining  vote  to  make  a  majority.  If 
such  a  majority  is  gathered  together,  it  will  be  far  more  often  for  a  weak 
compromise  than  when  a  lesser  proportion  are  required.  The  whole 
quality  and  character  of  legislation  deteriorate  when  a  disciplined  and 
dissident  minority  are  present. 


50  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

This  ability  of  the  Communists  to  sabotage  the  legislative  process 
had  its  first  great  demonstration  in  Germany  under  the  Weimar  con- 
stitution. In  four  successive  elections  for  the  Reichstag  from  1928  to 
1932  they  won  54,  77,  89,  and  100  seats. 

In  1930  the  Nazis  also  won  a  large  number  of  seats,  and  from  then 
on  the  two  together  made  up  the  gross  deficit  that  the  legislature  had 
to  overcome  in  any  sound  democratic  legislation. 

The  tactics  of  the  Communists  in  the  French  National  Assembly, 
throughout  the  autumn  of  1947,  and  continuing  into  1949,  have  been 
of  the  same  kind.  Fortunately,  with  the  advantage  of  historical  experi- 
ence, the  democratic  parties  of  France  have  rallied  together  better 
than  their  German  counterparts  in  the  earlier  case.  Schumann  fought 
the  same  battle,  a  battle  over  finances  in  face  of  a  strong  Communist 
minority,  that  was  fought  17  years  ago  in  Germany. 

If  it  is  at  all  possible  to  work  through  other  parties  they  stand  a 
chance  to  exert  a  leverage  beyond  their  numbers.  This  does  not  often 
happen,  but  in  the  United  States  from  1943  to  1947  the  Communists 
opposed  any  third  party  project,  and  even  dropped  the  name  of  a  party 
themselves  to  try  to  work  through  others. 

In  1947,  when  the  V.  S.  Party  reorganized  on  an  underground  basis 
they  created  the  Progressive  Party  to  fight  American  foreign  policy. 

The  ability  of  a  minority  to  embarrass  a  democratic  party  finds 
even  easier  ground  in  all  kinds  of  private  organizations.  Active  partici- 
pation, as  distinct  from  mere  hangers-on,  is  low  in  most  voluntary  groups. 
It  may  be  as  easy  for  a  minority  to  operate  a  labor  union,  or  a  pacifist 
league,  or  any  other  such  moA^ement,  as  it  is  for  a  minority  group  to 
control  a  large  corporation,  when  most  of  the  stockholders  take  no  active 
interest  in  the  management. 

COMMUNIST  INFILTRATION 

Communists  have  not  only  the  injunction  of  Lenin  to  infiltrate  non- 
Communist  groups,  there  are  also  rich  fruits  easily  garnered.  If  only  10 
percent  of  the  members  of  an  organization  attend  business  meetings,  only 
a  very  small  group  may  be  needed  to  dominate  it  completely.  Communists 
know  that  if  they  go  to  meetings,  and  the  others  do  not,  they  can  rule  the 
organization.  The  others  only  know  that  if  enough  of  them  go  they  can 
block  the  disciplined  minority,  they  do  not  know  that  they  can  rule, 
for  they  are  there  to  divide  on  unpredictable  lines.  So  the  dice  are  loaded. 

This  tactic  of  joining  and  working  through  other  groups,  called 
infiltration,  applies  especially  to  liberal  groups  of  all  kinds,  pursuing 
aims  that  the  Communists,  more  or  less  sincerely  or  hypocritically  as 
the  case  may  be,  can  also  support.  It  also  applies  to  colonial  movements 
seeking  independence,  where  the  Communists'  hope  is  to  weaken  the 
controlling  power  to  the  advantage  of  the  Soviets,  and  also,  if  possible, 
to  twist  the  independence  movement  into  a  social  revolution  by  appeal- 
ing to  and  mobilizing  the  underprivileged  masses. 

The  propaganda  line  that  supports  the  infiltration  tactics  is  made 
up  of  about  equal  parts  of  ultra-democratic  slogans  and  vituperation 
against  their  opponents. 

They  are  for  the  extension  of  the  suffrage,  for  tax  reduction  on 
small  incomes,  for  proportional  representation,  for  equal  rights,  for  free 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  51 

speech,  and  against  bosses,  politicians,  the  other  parties,  misleaders  of 
the  people. 

In  France  and  Italy  today  this  line  of  ultra-democracy,  ultra-patri- 
otism, and  ultra-abuse  of  their  opponents  takes  classic  forms.  They  are  for 
national  sovereignty,  for  the  annexation  of  the  Saar,  proportional  repre- 
sentation, an  all-powerful  assembly  and  a  weak  executive.  As  for  what 
they  say  of  the  United  States,  L'Humanite,  the  leading  Communist  paper 
of  France,  started  a  special  feature  in  the  number  for  October  24,  1947, 
under  the  headline,  "America  degrades  the  spirit"  devoted  to  the 
' '  decadence ' '  of  culture  in  the  United  States. 

COMMUNIST  VITUPERATION 

The  abuse  of  opponents  is  such  a  normal  feature  of  Communist 
tactics  that  it  scarcely  needs  to  be  proved  or  even  illustrated.  However, 
a  few  examples  may  be  given  in  order  to  aid  memory.  One  such  was  the 
reaction  to  the  speech  by  Winston  Churchill  at  Fulton,  Mo.,  on  March  5, 
1946.  Pravda  ran  an  editorial  on  March  11  condemning  him  for  propos- 
ing a  military  alliance  against  the  Soviet  Union,  for  reversing  all  the 
truths  he  had  stated  during  the  war,  and  for  reverting  to  reactionary 
policies.  Two  days  later  Pravda  printed  an  interview  with  Stalin  on  the 
same  subject,  calling  the  speech  damaging  to  peace  and  security,  adding 
"one  is  reminded  remarkably  of  Hitler  and  his  f  riends, " .  and  ending 
with  a  description  of  Churchill 's  moves  as  "  *  *  *  quixotic  antics. ' ' 

In  another  instance,  Brooks  Atkinson,  of  the  New  York  Times, 
formerly  stationed  as  a  correspondent  in  Moscow,  wrote  a  series  of 
articles  critical  of  the  then  trend  of  Soviet  policies,  published  in  the 
New  York  Times  for  July  7, 1946,  and  following  days.  By  July  11  Pravda 
had  caught  up  enough  to  denounce  Atkinson  as  "  an  untalented  calumnia- 
tor *  *  *  pen  bandit  *  *  *  and  savage. ' ' 

Other  cases  may  be  found  in  the  Izvestia  editorial  condemning 
President  Truman,  on  March  14,  1947  ;  an  attack  on  President  Truman's 
plea  for  admission  of  100,000  settlers  in  Palestine  as  imperialism,  in 
Pravda  on  November  1,  1946 ;  an  attack  on  both  the  Republican  and 
Democratic  Parties  as  bent  upon  ' '  impetuous  imperialist  expansion ' '  in 
Pravda  on  October  26,  1946,  and  a  general  attack  on  United  States  policy 
in  all  areas  from  the  State  of  Georgia  to  the  Yangtze  River  and  the 
Danube,  in  the  Moscow  papers  on  June  23,  1946.  Other  specimens  could 
be  given  ad  nauseam. 

Their  outpourings  of  prodemocratic  talk  and  abuse  of  their  oppo- 
nents is  not  wholly  indiscriminate.  They  turn  on  a  special  flood  of  ink 
when  under  attack  themselves,  in  the  manner  of  cuttlefish.  General  Deane 
discovered  this  in  negotiations  with  the  Soviets  for  good  treatment  of 
prisoners  of  war  liberated  from  the  Nazis.  *  *  *  every  agreement  which 
was  made  regarding  the  treatment  of  American  prisoners  of  war  liber- 
ated by  the  Red  Army  was  violated,  but  when  these  violations  were 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  appropriate  officials  they  responded 
with  the  most  unfounded  accusations  regarding  the  treatment  of  liber- 
ated Russian  prisoners  of  war  then  in  British  or  American  hands.  The 
Strange  Alliance,  p.  34.) 

In  the  1948  presidential  election  campaign,  the  U.  S.  Communist 
Party  manipulated  the  merger  of  a  group  of  familiar  Communist  front 
organizations  into  the  Progressive  Party  to  support  Henry  Wallace's 


52  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

third  party  candidacy;  but  they  also  split  off  from  one  front  in  this 
merger  a  new  group,  The  National  Council  of  Arts,  Sciences  and  Profes- 
sions, to  continue  specialized  agitation  to  intellectuals  in  support  and 
defense  of  the  Soviet  Union's  foreign  policy. 

APPEASEMENT  TACTICS 

They  also  know  when  and  how  to  emphasize  the  line  of  sweet  reason- 
ableness, resorting  to  appeasement  tactics,  strictly  on  the  psychological 
level  where  it  costs  least.  This  is  less  flexible,  however,  than  the  resort 
to  abuse,  and  may  be  possible  only  when  the  direction  of  general  strategy 
is  defensive  for  a  time.  Then  it  is  most  profuse.  But  even  during  a  drive 
toward  the  left,  or  rise  of  the  wave  of  revolution,  as  they  call  it,  they  will 
use  well-timed  concessions  with  an  eye  to  maximum  propaganda  effect. 
Their  evacuation  of  Bornholm  Island  in  the  Baltic  announced  on  March 
16,  1946,  and  their  agreement  to  the  United  States  trusteeship  in  the 
Pacific  on  March  31,  1947,  were  both  dramatized  as  symbols  of  how 
reasonable  Soviet  policy  can  be. 

In  all  countries  the  Communists  give  great  attention  to  the  tactical 
importance  of  the  channels  of  public  information,  the  so-called  media. 
They  give  very  high  priority  to  the  development  of  their  own  press, 
both  on  the  level  of  popular  dailies  and  weeklies,  and  on  the  more  esoteric 
level  of  technical  Marxist  monthly  and  quarterly  journals. 

It  also  includes  as  much  as  possible  infiltration  by  Communists  and 
sympathizers  into  non-Communist  media,  including  radio,  movies,  book 
publishing,  and  even  music  and  the  other  arts.  In  a  sense  they  even 
regard  labor  unions  and  other  political  and  economic  organizations  as 
media,  using  them  primarily  as  channels  through  which  to  communicate 
Communist  ideas  on  particular  issues  in  the  ordinary  course  of  activities. 

In  order  to  fully  understand  the  logic  of  Communist  infiltration,  one 
must  examine  their  attitude,  and  some  of  their  practices,  in  relation  to 
reform  or  liberal  movements  that  they  cannot  hope  to  control.  If  they 
entered  such  movements  or  groups  in  order  to  help  achieve  the  progres- 
sive objects  sought,  even  though  holding  the  objects  inadequate,  they 
might  loyally  cooperate  with  the  other  members  up  to  the  point  of  success. 
But  Communist  infiltration  has  no  such  character.  They  simply  have  no 
place  in  their  minds  for  any  seriously  worth-while  purposes  but  their  own. 

The  case  of  Poland  at  the  close  of  the  war  is  the  best  illustration. 
The  Polish  underground  led  by  General  Bor  was  ready  to  rise  against 
the  Germans  as  the  Soviet  advance  was  approaching  Warsaw  in  1944. 
But  a  movement  of  this  kind,  out  of  Communist  control,  was  intolerable 
to  Communism. 

The  signal  for  rising  was  given,  and  the  Soviet  advance  then  stopped 
long  enough  for  the  Nazis  to  do  the  work  of  liquidation.  (See  the  remarks 
of  Hon.  Pete  Jarman  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  December  4, 
1947,  for  a  brief  account  of  these  events.)  The  Soviets  were  negotiating 
at  the  same  time  for  a  bombing  boundary  line  drawn  far  enough  to  the 
west  to  prevent  British  planes  from  dropping  supplies  to  the  anti-Nazi 
Poles.  (See  The  Strange  Alliance,  by  Gen.  John  R.  Deane,  p.  138.) 

This  attitude  is  simply  the  reverse  side  of  the  same  coin  as  their  idea 
that  any  real  reform  of  the  capitalist  system  is  impossible  except  in 
accordance  with  their  own  kind  of  revolution. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  53 

The  goal  of  all  the  tactics  that  they  carry  on  when  revolution  is 
remote  is  to  bring  the  revolution  closer.  And  that  does  not  mean  very 
close,  for  they  also  understand  the  technique  of  revolution  down  to  the 
finest  points,  and  are  ready  to  crowd  and  jostle  their  way  to  power  in 
situations  where  no  spontaneous  revolution  could  succeed.  This  involves 
a  general  readiness  for,  and  training  in,  the  conditions  of  underground 
politics,  as  developed  in  the  world-wide  political  underworld  of  the  past 
generation. 

The  development  of  a  Red  army  in  Korea,  the  espionage  activities 
revealed  by  the  Canadian  spy  trials  in  February  1946,  and  the  develop- 
ment of  Greek  guerrilla  forces  based  upon  aid  from  north  of  the  Greek 
frontier  are  all  pieces  from  the  same  cloth. 

An  illustration  of  the  promptness  and  thoroughness  with  which  they 
entrench  and  consolidate  positions  won  is  given  by  the  mass  discharges 
of  personnel  from  the  Romanian  Foreign  Office,  promptly  after  Comrade 
Anna  Pauker  took  charge,  reported  by  the  Yugoslav  news  service  on 
November  16,  1947.  The  general  pattern  for  seizure  and  retention  of 
power  by  a  strong  minority  has  been  exhibited  in  many  cases  in  the 
last  three  years. 

The  training  for  illegal  activities  includes  systematic  attention  to 
the  commitment  of  promising  personnel  to  the  movement  through 
criminal  activities.  This  is  designed  to  make  it  difficult,  or  impossible,  for 
the  recruit,  once  joined,  to  change  his  mind.  The  importance  of  arms  in  the 
critical  stages  of  the  struggle  has  been  an  important  point  in  Communist 
thought  on  the  strategy  of  revolution  ever  since  1917.  The  combination 
of  all  of  these  techniques,  to  permit  the  use  of  physical  violence  when 
needed,  is  a  side  light  on  the  meaning  of  democratic  centralization  and 
party  discipline  as  explained  in  the  documents  printed  in  Supplement  I 
to  this  report.  Their  political  tactics  include  helping  others  to  do  Com- 
munist work  whenever  there  is  an  opportunity. 

But  they  have  always  one  goal,  the  revolution,  and  one  standard  of 
preparedness,  the  state  of  readiness  for  all-out  violence. 

(See  also,  Force  and  Violence,  Pages  182-256.) 

E.    ECONOMIC  TACTICS  OF  COMMUNISM 

Whereas  for  Communist  political  tactics  there  are  a  series  of  zones, 
concentric  from  the  power  center  in  the  Soviet  Union,  for  economic  tac- 
tics there  are  just  three  classes  of  areas :  first,  the  Soviet  Union ;  second, 
newly  controlled  areas;  third,  areas  not  yet  controlled. 

The  basis  of  economic  policy  in  the  Soviet  Union  has  already  been 
discussed  under  the  heading  of  Soviet  defense  policy  above.  And  as  noted 
there,  an  extremely  concise  and  clear  basic  explanation  of  it  is  contained 
in  Stalin's  speech  of  February  9,  1946.  In  brief,  the  Union  must  achieve 
economic  self-sufficiency  for  war  in  the  shortest  possible  time.  It  met 
this  test  for  the  Second  World  War,  but  as  Stalin  explained,  it  is  bent 
upon  meeting  a  similar  test  again. 

This  requires  the  highest  possible  rate  of  capital  formation  through 
the  development  of  industry  and  this  in  turn  requires  the  highest  pos- 
sible level  of  civilian  sacrifice. 

In  the  Soviet  Union,  the  level  of  civilian  sacrifice  in  terms  of  stand- 
ard of  living,  measured  by  the  proportions  of  the  national  income  going 


54  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

into  the  development  of  heavy  industry,  has  been  comparable  since  1928 
to  the  level  of  sacrifice  achieved  in  the  United  States  only  during  the  war. 

This  is  not  guided  by  private  initiative,  nor  does  it  bring  profit  to 
private  individuals,  but  in  all  other  respects,  and  in  basic  economic  effect, 
it  corresponds  very  well  indeed  with  the  characteristics  ascribed  by  Marx 
to  capitalism  in  his  worst  attacks  on  it. 

Not  only  must  the  Soviet  develop  its  economic  potential  for  war  as 
rapidly  as  possible;  also,  it  must  avoid  dependence  upon  the  external 
world.  This  policy  of  self-sufficiency,  or  autarchy,  means  a  general 
inhibition  of  trading  relationships,  marked  by  the  fact  that  Soviet  foreign 
trade  has  never  equaled  the  volume  carried  on  by  Czarist  Russia. 

Russian  exports  in  1913  reached  a  value  of  $775,000,000,  and  the 
highest  postwar  year  was  1930  when  they  reached  only  $533,000,000.  For 
imports,  the  1913  figure  was  $700,000,000  and  the  highest  postwar  year 
was  1931,  when  they  amounted  to  $569,000,000. 

Whenever  relations  have  been  reasonably  good  with  Britain  of  Ger- 
many or  the  United  States,  considerable  programs  for  imports  of 
machinery  and  equipment  in  exchange  for  Soviet  wheat  or  raw  materials 
have  been  entered  into,  and  credit  arrangements  in  moderate  amounts 
have  been  utilized.  In  general,  however,  the  degree  of  self-sufficiency 
maintained  has  been  very  high. 

RED  EMPHASIS  ON  GOLD 

A  curious  feature  of  this  system  is  the  emphasis  placed  by  the  Soviets 
upon  gold  production.  Special  incentives  have  been  granted  to  prospec- 
tors, and  the  production  of  gold  from  all  known  sources  has  been  pressed, 
apparently  without  intermission.  The  value  of  this  gold  is  almost  entirely 
based  upon  trade ;  so  long  as  it  is  more  acceptable  than  any  other  com- 
modity, and  at  good  prices,  it  is  worth  producing.  This  applies  just  as 
long  as  the  labor  and  other  costs  involved  in  gold  production  can  thereby 
produce  more  machinery  for  the  Soviets  through  trade  than  they  could 
produce  directly  in  other  Soviet  industries. 

As  long  as  gold  exerts  a  unique  leverage  in  trade,  receivable  without 
challenge  on  the  ground  of  dumping,  and  unimpeded  by  protective 
tariffs  or  any  other  restrictions,  this  will  remain  an  instrument  of  Soviet 
economics. 

It  was  pointed  out  in  connection  with  Soviet  defense  policy  that 
priority  for  industrial  development  is  given  to  the  areas  most  remote 
from  foreign  attack.  This  cannot  be  carried  out  with  perfect  symmetry 
of  course.  For  one  reason,  the  major  areas  of  urban  population  cannot  be 
replaced  immediately,  nor  for  a  long  time.  Leningrad  and  Moscow  are 
both  in  this  class,  as  well  as  the  centers  of  shipbuilding  on  the  Black  Sea, 
and  the  many  large  cities  of  the  Don  Basin  that  were  not  too  far  away  for 
the  Germans  to  reach.  For  another  reason,  the  inexorable  facts  of  loca- 
tion of  resources  cannot  be  modified  by  policy.  The  Dnieper  River  with 
its  hydroelectric  capacity  is  in  the  western  Ukraine.  So  is  the  greatest 
iron  mine  in  the  Union,  at  Krivoi  Rog,  and  the  great  manganese  deposit 
of  Nikopol. 

The  organization  of  the  economy  is,  of  course,  predominantly  under 
state  ownership  and  planning,  with  only  small  sectors  of  trade,  manu- 
facturing, and  agriculture  still  in  private  hands.  Even  the  remaining 
private  enterprise  is  subject  to  planning,  and  as  the  entrepreneurs  have 


tJN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  55 

learned  again  and  again  since  the  first  turn-away  from  the  new  economic 
policy  in  1928,  subject  to  liquidation  without  much  notice,  Within  this 
socialism,  there  is,  as  already  mentioned,  the  "capitalist"  feature  of 
capital  development — 

that  production  is  merely  production  for  capital,  and  not  vice  versa,  the  means  of 
production  mere  means  for  an  ever-expandinfg  system  of  the  life  process  for  the  benefit 
of  the  society  of  producers.  (Marx,  Capital,  I,  p.  293.) 

There  is  also  a  wage  differential,  that  is  a  range  between  the  highest 
level  of  pay  and  the  lowest,  that  is  as  wide  as  the  range  for  all  but  a  tiny 
fraction  in  such  a  country  as  the  United  States  today.  And  just  as  there 
are  extreme  fringes  outside  the  ordinary  range  in  the  United  States,  so 
are  there  in  Russia,  where  popular  authors  may  acquire  incomes 
through  royalties  that  are  certainly  large  and  would  be  so  considered 
anywhere. 

The  development  of  the  economy  is,  as  is  well  known,  under  a  state 
planning  system  headed  up  in  the  Gosplan,  or  top  level  planning  organi- 
zation. This  has  a  massive  staff  of  statisticians  and  other  experts,  and 
performs  the  work  of  drafting  the  5-year  plans,  and  their  annual  modi- 
fications. These  provide  detailed  plans  for  every  industry  and  phase  of 
economic  activity  in  the  Union. 

After  the  Soviet  Union  itself,  the  next  areas  to  be  considered  are 
those  recently  brought  under  Communist  control.  This  includes  both  the 
areas  recently  annexed  to  the  Union,  and  the  countries  not  annexed,  but 
under  Communist  governments. 

Economic  policy  in  these  regions  is  that  of  a  transition  period, 
involving  (a)  the  introduction  of  the  monopoly  of  foreign  trade  by  the 
state,  (&)  the  exploitation  of  war  booty  and  reparations  clauses,  (c)  the 
totalitarian  disciplining  (what  the  Nazis  called  Gleichschaltung)  of  labor 
unions  and  agricultural  organizations,  (cZ)  the  reorganizing  of  the  land 
system  and  general  break-up  of  property  and  savings  in  order  to  smash 
resistant  classes  and  groups,  and  (e)  such  physical  measures  as  changing 
over  the  gauge  of  rail  lines  to  the  wider  Soviet  gauge. 

The  introduction  of  Soviet-type  monopolies  involves  an  assortment 
of  methods,  not  at  all  as  simple  as  socialization  of  everything  by  decree. 
Some  properties  are  taken  over  as  former  enemy  property  wherever  Ger- 
man interest  can  be  found  or  inferred.  This  goes  so  far  as  the  taking  over 
of  former  Jewish  property  on  the  ground  that  the  Nazis  seized  title  to  it, 
and  former  American  or  British  property,  as  in  Rumanian  oil  companies, 
seized  by  the  Germans  or  by  local  governments  as  enemy  property  during 
the  war.  Nationalization  by  legislative  action  is  of  course  also  applied  to 
selected  industries,  such  as  coal,  steel,  rails,  etc. 

Since  there  is  nothing  like  an  antitrust  policy  in  any  of  the  regions 
involved,  the  range  in  the  power  of  control  enjoyed  by  the  combines  that 
result  from  these  processes  is  no  broader  than  from  plain  monopoly  to 
faintly  adulterated  monopoly. 

Austria,  which  happens  to  be  under  partial  but  incomplete  Soviet 
control,  serves  as  a  goldfish  bowl  in  which  these  policies  can  be  observed 
more  readily  than  in  the  fully  controlled  countries.  There  the  Soviets 
enjoy  full  control  of  the  Zistersdorf  oil  field,  the  richest  in  Europe  west 
of  Rumania. 

They  also  hold  a  controlling  share  in  the  Danube  shipping  concern, 
and  a  melange  of  other  industrial  property  lumped  in  USIVA  (Soviet 


56  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

Administration  of  German  Properties  in  Austria).  They  recently  gave 
an  exhibition  performance  featuring  the  possibilities  that  such  positions 
afford  them. 

Preparatory  to  laying  down  their  terms  for  an  Austrian  peace  treaty, 
late  in  January,  1948,  they  first  doubled  the  price  of  oil  out  of  the 
Austrian  land  to  the  Austrian  Government.  After  a  few  days  in  which 
the  impression  made  could  sink  in,  they  then  displayed  their  "essential 
kindliness"  by  softening  the  action  taken. 

The  Communist  control  of  unions  and  other  economic  organizations 
is  direct  once  they  achieve  political  power.  Removal  of  all  old  personnel  is 
seldom  necessary.  The  process  is  largely  after  the  manner  to  be  under- 
stood from  Stalin 's  statement  on  the  possibility  of  peaceful  evolution  to 
socialism  in  a  case  of  Socialist  encirclement.  Only  those  willing  to  run  the 
risk  of  liquidation  need  be  liquidated. 

The  use  of  economic  methods  for  changing  the  class  structure  of  a 
country,  smashing  up  the  old  middle  class  and  landowning  groups,  and 
creating  the  amorphous  mass  that  dictatorship  finds  most  amenable,  is 
particularly  the  function  of  land  reforms  and  currency  reforms. 

LAND  REFORM  TACTICS 

Land  reform,  as  in  the  Soviet  zone  of  Germany,  uses  whatever  argu- 
ment from  past  or  present  politics  or  social  conditions  lies  most  ready  to 
hand.  In  the  countries  concerned,  the  arguments  for  land  reform  are 
often  extremely  good,  and  long  antedate  the  advent  of  Communist  power. 
But  under  the  guise  of  breaking  up  the  larger  estates  it  is  simple  to  break 
up  the  not-so-large  also,  creating  a  class  of  small  farmers  with  inadequate 
equipment  and  know-how,  helplessly  dependent  upon  state  credit  for  all 
further  development. 

Currency  reform,  if  timed  right,  can  perform  a  transfer  of  wealth 
from  the  well-to-do  to  the  state,  equalizing  all  in  a  common  propertyless 
condition.  The  revaluation  in  Rumania  two  years  ago  in  August,  caught 
the  better  producers  largely  at  the  moment  when  they  had  sold  their 
wheat  crop,  which  is  harvested  in  June  and  July.  The  leu  was  revalued 
at  the  rate  of  1  new  leu  for  20,000  old  ones,  with  the  exchange  limited 
for  farmers  at  the  amount  of  250  to  350  new  leu  maximum.  This  kind  of 
limitation  on  the  amount  of  transfer  from  old  to  new  currency  can  catch 
and  fleece  all  holders  of  large  quantities  of  the  old  currency.  It  does  so 
with  a  complexity  that  inhibits  criticism  and  counterpropaganda  by 
forcing  the  discussion  of  the  subject  into  technicalities. 

There  is  one  issue  that  draws  a  line  of  distinction  between  the  various 
countries  under  Soviet  control.  This  is  the  matter  of  which  side  they 
were  on  in  the  war.  Countries  on  the  enemy  side  are  subject  to  repara- 
tions claims  which  eliminate  any  balance  of  payments  problem  for  the 
Soviets  in  getting  what  they  want  of  the  local  resources.  Countries  on  the 
Allied  side  get  more  in  return,  as  Czechoslovakia  gets  Russian  wheat  and 
iron  ore  in  return  for  her  exports. 

Soviet  and  Communist  economic  relations  with  the  uncontrolled 
outside  world  resume  the  general  pattern  of  coordinated  Communist 
tactics.  That  is  to  say,  they  are  designed  to  advance  the  revolution  first, 
the  Soviet  as  the  main  force  of  the  revolution  second,  the  weakening  of  all 
capitalist  countries  third;  and  they  seek  these  ends  through  combined  use 
of  Soviet  and  local  Communist  methods. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  57 

Kussia  enters  into  trade  for  commercial  among  other  reasons,  but  all 
the  reasons  that  affect  major  political  policies  are  liable  to  intervene  at 
any  time.  This  has  always  made  Soviet  trade  a  disturbing  factor,  by 
making  it  unpredictable  for  normal  commercial  calculations. 

They  want  their  imports  for  strategic  reasons,  and  will  take  them  and 
pay  for  them  at  price  terms  at  which  no  one  expects  them  to  close  a  deal. 
Similarly,  they  export  to  get  the  foreign  exchange  with  which  to  obtain 
imports  whose  value  to  them  is  not  measured  by  the  money  cost.  They 
may  sell,  in  order  to  secure  the  exchange,  at  prices  impossible  to  account 
for  on  commercial  criteria.  International  trade,  from  their  point  of  view, 
is  one  of  the  necessary  evils  of  the  transition  period  between  the  victory 
of  communism  in  Russia  and  the  final  victory  of  the  revolution. 

Under  their  system  of  planning,  with  a  state  monopoly  of  foreign 
trade,  the  measures  of  bilateral  trade  are  natural  methods  for  them. 
This,  of  course,  reflects  in  part  a  world-wide  phenomenon.  Insofar  as 
multilateral  trade  based  on  convertible  currencies  is  possible,  they  are 
capable  of  entering  into  it.  And  insofar  as  certain  technical  measures 
to  facilitate  trade,  such  as  uniform  methods  of  tariff  valuation,  freedom 
of  transit,  marks  of  origin,  uniformity  of  formalities  and  terminology,  are 
of  advantage  to  others  they  may  also  be  of  advantage  to  the  Soviets  and 
the  Soviets  may  participate  in  developing  them. 

The  Soviet  economic  role  remains  in  essentials  that  of  a  cartel,  with 
a  profit-and-loss  account  calculated  not  in  money  out  in  power.  And  as  has 
been  said  of  governmental  cartels  in  general,  once  a  government  forms 
a  cartel  it  will  pursue  its  objective  more  aggressively  and  more  ruthlessly 
than  any  private  enterprise. 

The  fact  that  the  Soviet  is  only  a  first  consideration,  and  not  the 
only  one  in  the  strategy  of  revolution,  is  demonstrated  time  and  again, 
when  the  aims  of  trade  are  visibly  a  political  effect  to  be  gained  in  the 
other  trading  country.  Shipments  of  Eussian  wheat  in  1945  and  since 
then  have  been  clearly  directed  by  political  considerations.  At  this  point 
the  Soviet  takes  on  the  role  of  an  accessory  to  the  Communist  drive  in 
outside  countries. 

The  role  of  the  foreign  Communist  parties  has  economic  aspects 
also.  Special  care  is  expended  to  develop  the  Communist  movement  in 
strategically  important  countries.  Special  care  is  expended  ivithin  coun- 
tries to  seek  control  of  labor  in  key  industries — industries  rated  as  of 
special  importance  either  in  potential  for  war,  or  of  especial  disruptive 
importance. 

LABOR  AND  ECONOMIC  TACTICS 

Communist  activities  in  all  industries  and  in  all  countries  is  very 
heavily  overlaid  by  apparent  concern  for  the  welfare  of  the  worker,  for 
better  wages  and  better  conditions  of  labor.  These  goals  are  inherent  in 
the  whole  of  the  labor  tradition  of  which  Communist  proletarian  preach- 
ings are  a  branch.  But,  since  the  Communists  reject  all  hope  of  real 
reform  without  revolution,  their  advocacy  of  these  goals  lacks  certain 
restraining  elements  that  affect  any  nonrevolutionary  labor  leadership. 
This  is  most  conspicuous  under  inflationary  conditions,  where  Com- 
munists have  no  thought  of  any  solution  but  higher  wages,  no  matter 
how  many  times  the  inflationary  cycle  has  already  revolved.  They  expect 
a  smash,  and  lack  any  impulse  to  avoid  it.  This  has  been  apparent  in 


58  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

almost  all  non-Communist  countries  recently,  but  especially  in  France 
and  Italy  and  the  United  States. 

Short  of  the  tactics  of  inflation  or  of  revolution  they  simply  seek 
positions  of  maximum  advantage  through  the  technique  of  infiltration, 
using  their  disciplined  minority  and  technical  skills  to  control  unions 
as  groups  within  which  to  carry  on  propaganda  activities. 

The  immediate  advantages  are  two :  The  direct  indoctrination  and 
recruitment  that  can  be  accomplished,  and  the  swinging  of  the  whole 
group  on  particular  issues,  to  vote  or  to  use  its  strength  in  other  ways 
for  Communist  or  Soviet  advantage  on  political  issues.  The  ability  to 
slant  the  support  of  a  group  in  favor  of  the  Communist  choice  among 
non-Communist  parties  may  be  a  very  powerful  means  of  influence  in 
realms  of  politics  where  Communist  influence  seems  quite  remote. 

When  the  situation  reaches  a  stage  where  a  drive  for  power  may  be 
feasible,  economic  weapons  play  a  quite  different  role.  Then  the  policy 
of  wrecking  the  existing  economy  by  constantly  rising  wages  becomes 
intensified,  and  finds  its  complement  in  the  checking  of  production 
through  strikes.  Then  the  policy  of  concentration  on  key  industries  pays 
off,  for  strikes  in  coal  mines  and  on  the  railroads  cause  production  losses 
far  beyond  the  sector  of  the  economy  in  which  organization  has  to  meet 
the  test  and  strain  of  striking.  If  the  production  losses  can  accelerate 
inflation,  permitting  a  resort  to  new  wage  demands  in  other  industries, 
the  Communist-influenced  labor  front  may  advance  in  echelon  toward 
the  economic  and  political  smash-up.  Then  can  come  the  "revolution" — 
that  is,  a  coup  d  'etat  by  the  professional  party  leaders,  with  all  elements 
of  popular  spontaneity  under  careful  control. 

The  economic  tactics  in  non- Communist  countries  have  three  main 
phases,  of  which  the  mildest  is  infiltration  under  normal  conditions,  the 
next  more  intensive  is  the  drive  toward  inflation,  and  the  last  is  a  general 
tie-up  preparatory  to  seizing  power. 

In  none  of  these  stages  are  their  economic  forces  left  to  fend  for 
themselves.  Any  effort  to  ameliorate  economic  conditions  through  the 
cooperation  of  non-Communist  countries  is  decried  by  Soviet  and  world 
Communist  propaganda  as  an  imperialist  alinement.  The  slogan  of 
"sovereignty"  can  play  a  role  in  economic  developments  as  well  as  in 
political  tactics.  Capital  formation,  though  far  lower  in  rate  than  in  the 
Soviet  Union,  is  denounced  as  too  high  a  level  of  profits. 

Soviet  diplomacy  can  move  to  assist  local  Communism  in  its  eco- 
nomic struggles  by  embarrassing  the  non-Communist  government,  and 
Soviet  trade  policy  can  add  its  contribution  either  to  further  disturb  an 
economy  in  need  of  commodity  imports,  or  to  grant  them  for  political 
advantage.  And  the  new  development  of  a  complex  of  Communist  states 
instead  of  a  single  one  will  permit  a  new  flexibility,  whereby  the  several 
Communist  countries  can  divide  the  labor  of  disturbance  of  other  Euro- 
pean economies  through  economic  warfare.  The  Cominform,  in  Belgrade 
instead  of  in  Moscow,  can  shield  the  Soviet  Foreign  Office  from  the  pro- 
tests of  foreign  governments. 

F.    COMBINED  TACTICS 

Communist  tactics  include  several  different  kinds  of  tactics,  such 
as  economic  and  political.  But  these  make  up  a  single  broad  set  of  tactics, 
of  wide  variety,  understood  by  them  as  serving  a  single  goal. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  59 

There  are  four  different  planes  on  which  they  can  vary,  and  each 
of  these  offers  choices  for  Communist  policy. 

First,  there  is  the  choice  of  defensive  or  offensive  tactics  according 
to  the  prevailing  situation.  This  is  the  basis  for  the  great  periods  of 
Communist  defensive  or  offensive  policy  from  1917  to  the  present. 

Second,  there  is  the  series  of  zones,  with  its  center  in  the  heart  of 
the  Soviet  Union,  requiring  the  adaptation  of  tactics  to  both  the  needs 
and  the  possibilities  of  each  area,  in  terms  of  geographic  remoteness, 
strategic  remoteness,  and  political  remoteness. 

Third,  there  is  the  range  of  choice  between  economic,  political,  and 
psychological  or  propaganda  weapons  and  methods. 

Fourth,  there  is  the  range  of  choice  among  various  available  agents, 
from  the  Red  Army  and  the  Soviet  Foreign  Office,  through  the  satellite 
governments  to  the  Communist  parties  in  non-Communist  countries. 

This  combination  involves  nothing  more  complicated  than,  for 
example,  the  tactics  of  amphibious  warfare,  or  the  plane-tank-infantry 
team  of  the  modern  war  of  movement  on  land.  The  practice  of  combined 
tactics  in  cold  warfare  was  demonstrated  for  several  years  by  Hitler,  to 
great  effect,  and  his  final  defeat  does  not  at  all  change  the  fact  that  he 
gained  successes  through  his  combined  tactics  that  contributed  enor- 
mously to  his  power.  The  lesson  of  history  is  plain :  That  there  can  be  a 
tactic  that  combines  consideration  of  when  to  stand  still  and  when  to 
attack,  with  a  recognition  of  geopolitical  factors,  and  with  a  free-handed 
adaptability  in  use  of  economic,  political,  and  psychological  weapons, 
and  with  the  use  of  the  central  power  of  a  government  supported  by 
satellites  and  "fifth  columns." 

Obviously  no  such  system  of  tactics  can  exist  unless  there  are  clearly 
understood  goals,  a  clear  sense  of  which  available  assets  are  more  expend- 
able than  others,  a  common  knowledge  of  the  effects  that  can  be  gained 
by  each  available  weapon,  over-all  control  of  the  basic  strategy  of  offense 
and  defense,  and  good  communications. 

This  means  teamwork.  And  teamwork  is  not  a  requirement  which 
the  Communists  lack.  It  is  only  another  name  for  the  "iron  discipline" 
that  Lenin  demanded  and  knew  how  to  create.  The  most  obvious  basis  of 
high-grade  teamwork  among  Communists  is  in  the  rules  of  "democratic 
centralization. ' '  If  there  is  no  more  discussion,  but  unanimous  obedience 
after  a  decision,  then  teamwork  of  course  follows.  But  to  have  such  a 
system,  and  not  to  lose  large  minorities  after  every  decision  that  involves 
any  controversy,  means  a  considerable  degree  of  morale  and  loyalty. 

WHY  COMMUNISTS  ACT  ALIKE 

There  are  some  features  of  communism  that  lead  to  similar  behavior 
by  Communists  everywhere.  A  Communist  in  Borneo  or  in  Alaska  will 
try  to  ' '  organize  the  unorganized  "  if  he  can  find  any  unorganized  labor 
to  work  on.  That  is  as  simple  a  consequence  of  the  Communist  creed  as 
going  to  church  on  Sunday  is  for  Christians.  A  common  faith  refreshed 
from  common  books  is  sufficient  to  maintain  such  a  pattern  of  similar 
behavior.  But  teamwork  is  something  else  than  merely  similar  behavior; 
it  is  dissimilar  behavior  for  a  common  purpose.  Teamwork  requires  a 
shared  purpose,  but  it  also  requires  constant  communication,  signals,  and 
organization  in  terms  of  authority,  assignments,  and  specific  training. 


60  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

All  of  these  things  the  Communists  have.  Their  leading  personnel, 
the  kind  of  members  who  are  on  the  executive  committees  of  national 
parties,  have  had  very  severe  training.  They  have  studied  theories,  and 
they  have  discussed  them.  For  years  they  have  been  through  the  mill  of 
party  debate  about  how  to  work  out  the  right  tactics  for  new  situations. 
Their  knowledge  is  professional  in  intensity,  and  as  integrated  to  practice 
as  medical  or  engineering  knowledge. 

Now,  if  one  found  that  a  lot  of  good  civil  engineers  could  get  together 
to  build  a  dam  or  a  TVA,  and  that  each  would  understand  what  the  other 
said,  and  know  how  to  divide  the  job  into  assignments  and  each  do  his 
part,  it  would  be  not  at  all  surprising.  They  have  a  common  theoretical 
and  practical  training.  So  have  the  Communists! 

Or  if  one  looks  at  a  historical  case,  such  as  the  Crusades  or  early 
Islam,  or  the  religious  wars  in  Europe  a  few  centuries  ago,  or  any  modern 
nationalist  movement,  one  finds  one  is  dealing  with  the  power  of  a  com- 
mon emotional  fanaticism.  Communists  have  such  fanaticism! 

Or  if  one  views  the  conduct  of  war  by  the  Germans,  with  the  plan- 
ning of  campaigns  through  a  general  staff  according  to  strategic  prin- 
ciples and  tactical  principles  worked  out  in  advance  but  adapted  con- 
stantly to  changing  circumstances,  or  the  conduct  of  war  by  the  American 
Joint  Chiefs  of  Staff  in  the  last  war,  one  finds  one  is  dealing  with  an 
organization  working  in  terms  of  common  rules  of  how  to  get  things 
done,  a  common  sense  of  the  objective  and  of  how  to  use  the  means  on 
hand  to  accomplish  the  end.  The  great  military  organizations  have  a 
general  staff  at  the  center  to  coordinate  the  actions  of  every  part  of  the 
army.  So  have  the  Communists! 

They  have  professional  leadership,  emotional  faith,  and  a  general 
staff  type  of  control.  The  professional  training  is  based  on  the  study  of 
many  textbooks  for  the  Communists — theoretical,  perhaps,  but  such 
theory  as  can  be  applied  to  action.  They  are  no  more  theoretical  to  Com- 
munists than  a  law  text  to  a  lawyer,  or  a  medical  text  to  a  doctor. 

(See  Pages  80, 149  to  256  for  the  specific  texts,  also  Pages  615-636.) 

The  general  staff  organization,  developed  in  the  Comintern  with  its 
staff  school  in  the  Marx-Lenin  Institute  at  Moscow,  though  truncated 
from  1943  to  1947,  has  been  revived  fully  for  the  critical  sector  of  Europe 
by  the  creation  of  the  Cominform.  Let  there  be  no  doubt,  then,  that  they 
are  equipped  by  training  and  organization  to  conduct  a  combined  strat- 
egy and  tactics  in  a  systematic  and  coordinated  manner. 

The  maintenance  of  identical  professional  standards  rests  upon  fac- 
tors as  obvious  and  simple  as  those  of  any  other  profession.  They  hold 
conventions,  and  they  have  professional  journals,  they  hear  speeches  by 
outstanding  professional  leaders,  and  they  use  such  open  channels  of 
communication  as  the  world  press. 

When  a  local  party,  such  as  the  party  in  the  United  States,  shows 
signs  of  difficulty  in  accepting  a  new  turn  of  strategy,  they  can  send  a 
' '  big  shot ' '  like  Duclos,  from  France,  to  lay  down  the  logic  of  the  new 
line,  and  support  an  Eisler  who  may  not  be  imposing  enough  to  accom- 
plish it.  When  they  find  that  some  of  the  comrades  will  not  conform  to 
the  line,  they  cut  them  off,  almost  in  the  manner  of  a  disbarment  proceed- 
ing for  lawyers  who  transgress  the  standards  of  the  bar. 

While  there  was  no  Comintern  from  1943  to  1947,  the  coordination 
of  action  in  all  countries  was  affected  through  liaison  rather  than  through 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  61 

direct  joint  staff  activities.  For  the  period  concerned  liaison  through 
NKVD  agents  or  others  was  quite  adequate.  There  was  no  perceptible 
confusion  in  negotiating  the  left  turn  executed  in  1945  and  1946,  beyond 
the  scattering  of  comrades  who  could  not  follow  the  signals,  and  this 
was  a  normal  feature  of  all  such  swings.  The  more  intensive  campaigning 
of  1947  to  1949,  however,  require  a  very  close  planning  and  very  fine 
synchronizing  of  activity  in  various  countries.  Also  the  time  had  come 
for  the  movements  in  the  new  Communist  countries,  depending  upon  the 
energies  of  local  nationalism  for  part  of  their  power  and  drive,  to  be 
brought  more  into  harness,  to  pull  together  rather  than  against  each 
other.  The  advantages  of  having  them  legally  independent  would  be  lost 
if  they  became  independent  in  any  other  sense.  So  the  Cominform  was 
set  up. 

COMMUNIST  TACTICAL  FLEXIBILITY 

The  advantages  of  all  this  to  the  Communists  are  many.  It  is  extraor- 
dinarily easy  to  outmaneuver  the  opposition  if  one  has  a  more  flexible 
but  well-coordinated  system  of  tactics.  Consider  the  way  in  which  the 
Germans  baffled  an  equally  large  army  of  French  and  British  in  1940 
as  a  case  in  point. 

The  Communists,  when  they  find  a  political  move  countered  and 
stopped  by  a  countermove  in  politics,  shift  into  economic  or  propaganda 
activities.  "When  a  move  in  one  area,  say  Iran  or  Greece,  is  blocked,  their 
next  move  is  in  Germany,  or  Turkestan,  or  Korea.  When  the  Soviet  is 
blocked  the  play  may  be  taken  up  by  satellite  governments,  or  by  the 
parties  in  non-Communist  countries. 

Each  branch  of  their  tactics  is  as  highly  developed  as  is  the  system 
of  coordination  between  them.  They  have  experts  in  the  conduct  of  work 
in  trade-unions  in  advanced  industries,  as  in  the  United  States  or  Ger- 
many, and  experts  in  work  in  backward  and  colonial  areas.  They  have 
American  specialists  and  Asiatic  specialists.  And  they  have  psychological 
tactics  as  elaborate  as  those  used  by  the  late  Dr.  Goebbels,  economic 
tactics  that  lack  nothing  known  to  the  Nazis,  and  political  tactics  for 
the  coup  d'etat  stage  of  politics  that  were  the  basis  of  Hitler's  technique 
in  1933. 

They  have  fully  assimilated  everything  new  and  effective  from  the 
last  15  years  of  political  violence.  This  gives  them  an  advantage  like  the 
temporary  advantage  of  the  Nazis.  None  of  their  weapons  is  inimitable. 
But  until  the  opposition  accepts  the  logic  of  the  game  as  they  play  it, 
and  learns  the  matching  system  of  defense,  they  enjoy  a  sort  of  monopoly. 

In  addition  they  hold  the  assets  that  were  discussed  under  the  head- 
ing of  foreign  policy  above.  They  have  the  veto  in  the  United  Nations, 
and  the  effect  is  that  there  is  no  international  organization  that  can  act 
against  them  without  extremely  difficult  procedures. 

They  hold  a  strangle  hold  on  Germany,  not  the  control  they  would 
like  to  have,  but  enough  to  make  any  development  of  Germany  adverse 
to  them  extraordinarily  difficult.  And  they  hold  positions  in  the  Far 
East  that  give  them  strategic  advantages.  Also  there  is  real  distress, 
disillusionment,  and  political  disorder  in  much  of  the  world,  and  they 
stand,  apparently  strong  and  confident,  and  ready  with  an  assured 
remedy  for  every  ill. 

Much  of  the  world  is  afraid  that  there  may  be  another  depression, 
as  the  Communists  predict.  After  all,  no  non-Communist  government  is 


62  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

being  run  on  principles  that  have  stood  the  test  of  preventing  a  depres- 
sion long  enough  to  be  convincing.  If  we  now  have  such  principles,  we 
have  still  to  test  them.  So,  whether  or  not  we  can  do  it,  the  Communists 
have,  for  the  time  being,  the  advantage  of  the  doubts  that  persist,  because 
it  has  not  yet  been  proved  that  we  can  avoid  depression. 
(See  also,  The  Domestic  Situation,  Pages  84  to  128.) 

RED  TACTICAL  WEAKNESSES 

With  all  these  advantages  of  their  tactics,  and  the  advantages  they 
hold  in  terms  of  positions  from  which  to  use  their  tactics,  they  also  have 
tactical  weaknesses. 

Even  for  those  who  doubt  that  the  non-Communist  democracies  can 
survive,  the  Communist  outline  of  the  remedy  is  not  attractive.  It  leads 
through  violence  and  dictatorship  to  whatever  future  it  may  have. 
The  Communists  promise  only  for  the  remote  future  the  economic  wel- 
fare that  many  non-Communist  countries  already  enjoy,  and  only  for 
a  still  more  remote  future  the  chance  to  enjoy  freedom  and  self-direction. 

The  strain  imposed  on  Communists  themselves  by  the  tight  discipline 
and  radical  shifts  of  policy  and  tactics  have  high  costs.  The  doctrine  that 
the  end  justifies  the  means  runs  out  into  a  revolt  of  the  means  against 
the  ends,  when  the  means  are  human  beings. 

There  has  been  a  constant  loss  of  people,  including  the  central  pro- 
fessional type.  Trotzky  was  the  most  famous,  but  Lovestone,  Gitlow, 
Budenz,  and  Browder  are  other  examples  from  the  party  in  the  United 
States,  and  Kravchenko,  Barmine,  and  others  can  be  mentioned  from  the 
Soviet  system. 

The  number  of  desertions  from  the  Ked  Army  in  Europe  has  been 
high,  and  has  been  much  publicized,  though  no  precise  data  are  available 
in  the  nature  of  the  case. 

Labor  in  many  countries  has  shown  signs  of  rebellion  against  Com- 
munist leadership,  when  the  inflation  lesson  has  exhausted  the  hope  that 
one  more  raise  can  remedy  the  rising  cost  of  living. 

National  opposition  groups  have  developed  or  hung  on  in  areas 
under  Communist  control,  where  the  price  of  Communism  has  been  too 
high  and  where  nationalism  is  the  only  available  channel  around  which 
to  organize  an  opposition,  as  in  the  Ukraine  or  Hungary. 

The  weaknesses  that  result  from  the  too  strenuous  demands  of  Com- 
munism upon  its  followers  are  apparent  in  some  features  of  their  tactics 
that  exist  only  to  cover  these  weaknesses.  The  Iron  Curtain  would  have 
no  purpose  if  the  peoples  behind  it  were  immune  to  what  might  come 
through  it. 

The  police  state  would  be  unnecessary  if  opposition  were  not  spon- 
taneous and  chronic.  Purges  of  the  party,  and  mass  transfers  of  popula- 
tions would  not  occur  where  dissent  was  not  bred  by  the  automatic  effect 
of  the  system  upon  the  people  who  have  to  live  in  it. 

There  are  human  and  material  shortages  that  prevent  the  full  exploi- 
tation of  the  positions  already  held,  or  prevent  the  full  support  of 
external  Communism  by  the  Soviets,  or  of  the  Soviets  by  the  foreign 
Communists.  These  shortages  bear  fruit  in  the  satellite  countries  in  the 
immediate  grasping  self -advancement  of  Communists  in  power,  and  the 
impossibility  of  purging  the  grafters  for  lack  of  replacements. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  63 

Finally  the  system  of  tactics,  by  itself,  imposes  costs  that  cannot  be 
met.  Communism  for  two  generations  has  been  degenerating  from  a 
theory  of  history,  and  a  dream  of  human  betterment,  into  a  technique 
for  power.  The  revolution  as  the  dominant  element,  the  controlling  con- 
cept, permits  the  deterioration  of  the  whole  system  into  a  drive  for  power. 
There  may  be  flexibility  at  the  tactical  level,  but  this  very  flexibility 
requires  a  degree  of  training,  of  detailed  expert  mastery  on  the  level  of 
means  that  inhibits  the  development  of  mastery  on  the  level  of  ends. 
The  end  has  become  a  dogma,  and  if  that  dogma  is  wrong  the  whole 
technique  of  the  means  is  wrong  too. 

They  pretend  that  Marxism  is  a  science.  But  they  are  inflexible  and 
dogmatic  at  the  fundamental  level  where  science  is  flexible,  the  level  of 
most  fundamental  theory.  Physics  is  a  science,  in  which  the  ideas  of 
Newton  were  upset  in  theory  by  Einstein  before  they  were  upset  in  prac- 
tice by  the  atom  bomb.  Communism  is  no  science,  for  it  refuses  to  admit 
that  its  starting  point  in  the  Communist  Manifesto  is  unchallenged  and 
unchallengeable.  It  rests  on  the  assertion  of  faith,  and  the  strains  pro- 
duced by  experience  that  contradicts  the  faith  have  grown  and  are  con- 
tinuing to  grow. 

These  weaknesses  will  be  felt  over  the  long  pull,  but  they  do  not 
show  up  in  the  details  of  action.  A  skillful  army  may  win  a  lot  of 
skirmishes,  even  in  a  losing  battle. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  immediate  results,  Communist  tactics 
are  good.  They  use  local  resources  in  many  areas  where  they  can  be 
checked  only  by  committing  a  part  of  our  main  strength.  The  Commu- 
nist threat  to  Greece,  for  example,  probably  costs  the  Soviet  absolutely 
nothing,  while  to  counter  it  has  cost  us  a  material  outlay  running  to 
$300,000,000. 

The  Communists  can  act  in  France  or  Italy  or  the  Ruhr  at  no  cost 
to  Moscow,  but  to  meet  them  may  cost  us,  by  present  estimates,  $6,800,- 
000,000  for  15  months.  And  as  they  threaten  one  front  after  another, 
and  we  cover  their  threats  with  our  countermoves,  they  have  yet  other 
fronts  to  which  they  can  turn. 

This  is  the  great  significance  and  the  great  advantage  of  their  four 
planes  of  choice,  the  basis  of  the  variety  and  resourcefulness  of  their 
tactics.  But  the  limits  of  this  variety  and  resourcefulness  and  the  means 
to  meet  it,  provide  heartening  answers  to  the  threat  of  Communist 
totalitarianism. 

IV.  The  Approach  to  Counteraction 

A.    OUR   PROBLEM 

For  the  Communists  the  present  world  situation  is  the  continuation 
of  a  long  succession  of  events.  They  have,  they  believe,  predicted  these 
events,  and  they  have  played,  they  think,  a  rational  role  based  on  under- 
standing and  expectation. 

Their  movement  has  been  based  on  the  expectation  of  great  wars  and 
revolutions  growing  out  of  the  explosive  forces  generated  in  modern 
society.  Their  movement  has  grown  in  a  hundred  3Tears  from  a  trickle  to 
a  flood.  Its  growth  has  accelerated  in  the  last  30  years,  first  through  the 
capture  of  power  in  Russia,  then  through  the  building  of  the  might  of 
the  Soviet  system,  then  through  the  fruits  of  victory  in  war.  And  it  has 


64  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

grown  in  relative  power  even  faster  than  in  absolute  power,  for  the 
breaking  of  nations  in  two  world  wars  has  left  the  Soviet  power  as  one 
of  only  two  great  centers  of  political  power  in  the  world. 

Today  they  see  the  whole  process  on  the  brink  of  its  final  culmina- 
tion. Between  them  and  the  United  States  lie  broad  areas  of  cracked  and 
repaired  but  shaky  political  structures,  under  severe  economic  and  politi- 
cal strains.  We  are  the  only  power  with  strength  to  spare  to  prop  the 
weak,  and  that  power,  as  they  see  it,  is  liable  to  have  its  own  troubles 
with  an  economic  crash,  and  soon.  Short  of  running  any  decisive  risk, 
they  know  and  have  announced  their  own  solution  to  the  problem  of 
the  present. 

For  us  the  situation  is  radically  different.  We  cannot  claim  to  have 
expected  the  present  situation,  for  only  two  or  three  years  ago  we  ignored 
it  and  denied  it.  How  to  face  it  is  therefore  a  very  different  problem  for 
us  than  it  is  for  them. 

Where  they  have  only  to  follow  the  book,  we  have  to  adapt  ourselves. 
We  have  to  learn  to  recognize  and  identify  the  key  elements  in  the  prob- 
lem, assess  our  own  means,  and  devise  methods  by  which  to  apply  our 
available  resources.  We  have  to  take  account  of  stock  in  a  situation  we 
did  not  anticipate.  They  have  kept  a  running  account  in  their  own  terms, 
and  think  they  know  exactly  where  they  stand. 

In  taking  account  of  stock  we  can  begin  by  examining  the  imme- 
diate weaknesses  and  disadvantages  of  our  position.  We  can  then 
examine  our  general  position  in  our  own  terms,  and  in  their  terms, 
and  measure  our  strength  to  meet  the  situation.  On  that  basis  we 
can  perhaps  set  ourselves  some  practical  rules  on  what  is  to  be  done. 

B.    OUR    HANDICAPS 

The  first  category  of  handicaps  under  which  we  find  ourselves  is 
the  same  as  a  list  of  their  recent  gains.  We  granted  to  them,  in  that 
remote  but  recent  era  of  the  alliance,  the  veto  in  the  United  Nations,  the 
hold  upon  Germany  under  the  Potsdam  agreement,  and  the  opportunity 
to  introduce  the  "new  democracy"  in  eastern  Europe.  We  also  induced 
them  to  intervene  in  eastern  Asia,  with  great  benefit  to  their  side  of  the 
balance  and  damage  to  our  side. 

These  things  leave  us  unable  to  use  instruments  that  should  have 
been  available  for  the  projects  of  reconstruction,  and  blocked  from  any 
action  in  areas  upon  which  other  areas  are  partially  dependent.  We  lost 
these  assets  through  agreements  that  were  final  as  soon  as  they  were  made 
so  far  as  concerned  what  we  granted.  They  were  subject  to  future  deliv- 
ery dependent  on  good  will,  for  the  return  benefit  to  us.  The  results  were 
summed  up  by  Senator  Vandenberg  when  he  said : 

Too  many  words,  as  at  Yalta  and  Potsdam,  and  in  Poland  at  this  very  hour,  have 
been  distorted  of  all  pretense  of  integrity.  (Senator  Vandenberg,  speech  at  Grand 
Rapids,  Mich.,  March  8, 1947.) 

The  next  category  of  our  handicaps  is  the  reverse  side  of  their 
present  opportunities.  Much  of  the  world  is  in  distress  or  disorder  or 
both.  Much  of  the  world,  while  reluctant  to  accept  Communism,  is  at 
best  dubious  about  the  prospect  of  stability  under  non-Communist 
auspices.  They  saw  the  United  States  blunder  into  the  world  depression, 
and  they  know  no  proof  as  yet  that  we  are  not  subject  to  a  repetition. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  65 

Anti- Communist  morale  is  low.  It  may  be  high  in  certain  places  or 
circles,  and  it  may  be  higher  in  many  places  than  a  year  ago ;  but  by 
comparison  with  what  it  once  was,  or  what  it  would  have  to  be  for  recon- 
struction to  be  called  a  success,  it  is  low.  There  are  unsolved  economic 
and  political  problems  of  vast  scope,  and  for  some  of  them  we  have  not 
yet  pretended  to  offer  solutions.  Mr.  Byrnes  put  it  succinctly  when 
he  said : 

If  we  regard  Europe  as  the  tinderbox  of  possible  world  conflagration,  we  must 
look  upon  Asia  as  a  great  smoldering  fire.  (Speaking  Frankly,  p.  204.) 

The  fact  that  we  are  handicapped  today  by  reason  of  our  own  past 
mistakes  points  the  finger  to  weaknesses  in  our  way  of  conducting  our 
own  business  at  home. 

Our  agencies  of  Government  that  make  policy  have  been  too  obvi- 
ously hampered  by  conflicts  of  principle  within  their  own  ranks.  Wrong 
policies  are  wrong  either  because  they  are  made  by  officials  whose  ideas 
are  wrong,  or  they  are  wrong  because  they  reflect  compromise  of  the 
bad  sort  after  internecine  struggle.  Ours  have  been  neither  as  right  as 
they  should  be,  nor  as  clear.  This  lack  of  clarity  has  extended  of  course 
to  relations  between  the  branches  of  Government,  and  the  Congress  has 
exhibited  at  times  the  skepticism  that  is  inevitable  when  the  case  as 
presented  is  not  clear  and  candid  and  consistent.  When  inconsistency 
has  been  necessary,  as  it  must  be  in  a  time  of  transition,  explanations 
and  the  fullest  possible  presentation  are  called  for  and  must  be  forth- 
coming. 

Insofar  as  communications  between  the  Government  and  the  Con- 
gress have  left  something  to  be  desired,  so  have  communications  between 
the  Government  and  the  public.  No  democracy  can  act  firmly,  with  the 
courage  of  its  own  convictions,  unless  the  people  know  what  it  is  about. 
A  government  that  tries  to  correct  its  past  mistakes,  without  admitting 
that  it  ever  made  any,  cannot  quite  succeed  at  the  same  time  in  reducing 
confusion.  And  public  confusion  is  a  real  handicap  in  our  kind  of  system. 

C.    THE   LINE   OF   LEAST   RESISTANCE 

Our  handicaps,  our  partial  confusion,  and  the  disillusionment  of 
facing  an  unpleasant  situation  on  the  heels  of  a  romantic  dream  of  peace, 
are  enough  to  account  for  the  desire  of  some  to  extend  the  dream.  This 
is  an  easy  thing  to  do. 

We  could  have  some  time  yet  of  entirely  sweet  relations  with  world 
Communism,  if  we  took  no  measures  to  block  its  aims.  We  could  extend 
that  time  without  limit  by  the  simple  device  of  turning  Communist 
en  masse.  But  even  people  in  misery  and  danger  do  not  do  that. 

Granting  concessions  to  an  antagonist  is  not  always  wrong.  Disraeli 
granted  concessions  to  Bismarck,  and  gained  a  peace.  One  can  grant 
concessions  even  to  an  overt  enemy,  without  betraying  oneself,  if  one  gets 
a  fair  bargain.  And  one  can  yield  to  an  enemy  what  one  cannot  practically 
withhold,  and  not  regret  it  later. 

But  the  things  we  want  from  the  Soviets  today  are  major  things, 
stabilization  of  the  world  and  an  acceptance  of  the  possibility  of  peace. 
What  have  we  to  offer?  We  have  already  given  them  what  they  thought 
was  enough  to  assure  their  position;  we  do  not  still  have  those  things 
to  give. 


66  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

The  stakes  now  in  play  include  all  the  areas  that  are  not  settled  as 
areas  for  their  system  to  control  or  ours.  These  areas  would  settle  the 
issue  of  power  once  and  for  all.  The  only  concessions  we  can  make  now 
that  would  buy  immediate  peace  involve  these  areas.  They  are  not  fools. 
They  think  they  will  win  their  bets,  and  they  will  not  sell  for  any  dis- 
count. And  the  price  is  just  too  big  to  concede. 

We  have  granted  all  that  can  be  granted  without  giving  away  what 
would  be  decisive.  When  we  did  it  we  thought  we  were  setting  the  founda- 
tions of  trust  and  neighborly  relations.  We  have  found  that  we  only  gave 
them  the  means  and  opportunity  to  grasp  for  more.  Now  the  issue  is  how 
to  recover  from  that  disadvantage,  not  how  to  add  enough  price  to  buy 
the  original  article. 

In  the  past  we  have  granted  to  the  Soviets  concessions  in  terms  of 
power  and  position  that  are  of  the  highest  degree  of  importance.  We  did 
so  in  the  agreements  concerning  the  veto  in  the  Security  Council,  and 
in  the  agreements  concerning  Germany  and  the  Far  East.  These  were 
very  great  concessions  made  in  hope  of  appeasement.  They  did  not  have 
the  anticipated  effect.  We  have  reached  the  end  of  such  a  policy.  There 
are  no  more  comparable  concessions  that  could  be  made  without  fatally 
weakening  our  own  position. 

This  does  not  mean  that  we  must  no  longer  bargain  with  them.  We 
should  bargain  with  them  on  practical  terms  of  mutual  advantage  when- 
ever occasion  arises.  But  we  cannot  afford  to  regard  them  as  distrustful 
children  who  need  a  demonstration  of  our  kindness  in  order  to  be 
reassured.  They  are  distrustful,  but  they  are  not  children. 

D.    OUR    CASE   IN   THEIR   LANGUAGE 

An  assessment  of  the  world  situation  today  has  been  laid  out,  as 
they  see  it,  in  some  of  the  major  statements  of  Communist  authorities 
since  the  war.  The  situation  as  seen  from  our  point  of  view  has  not  lacked 
for  eloquent  statement  in  recent  times  also.  But  the  differences  between 
the  two  styles  of  thought  and  expression  leave  it  far  from  clear  just 
what  the  differences  are.  An  effort  to  state  our  case  in  their  terms  may 
clarify  some  of  the  issues. 

To  begin  with  we  can  take  the  major  Communist  assertions  about 
the  condition  of  the  United  States  today,  its  place  in  history,  the  logic 
of  its  development  and  its  coming  fate,  and  see  how  they  apply  and  to 
whom  they  apply  most. 

(a)  According  to  the  Communists  we  are  the  prime  embodiment  of 
the  capitalist  system. 

What  they  mean  by  this  has  been  discussed  above,  in  particular  the 
deprivation  of  the  producing  class  of  the  fruits  of  production.  If  there 
is  any  country  in  the  world  of  which  this  is  more  true  than  of  any  other 
today  it  is  not,  however,  the  United  States  but  the  Soviet  Union.  And 
at  the  same  time  there  is  no  country  in  the  world  where  labor  gains  the 
benefit  of  high  production  so  much  as  in  the  United  States. 

(b)  They  charge  us  with  being  in  the  monopoly  and  imperialist 
phase  of  capitalism. 

Yet  they  maintain  a  foreign  trade  monopoly  and  we  do  not.  They 
have  monopolies  in  every  major  'industry  and  we  in  none. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  67 

(c)  They  claim  that  labor  is  exploited  in  our  system. 

But  it  is  they,  not  we,  who  use  the  slave  labor  of  millions  on  political 
grounds  (See  Communism  in  Action,  H.  Doc.  No.  754,  79th  Cong., 
ch.  V),  plus  the  slave  labor  of  war  prisoners  by  the  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands. 

(d)  They  claim  that  our  trade-unions  are  a  false  front,  designed  to 
betray  the  interests  of  labor,  and  covertly  under  capitalist  control. 

But  it  is  their  unions  that  are  iron-bound  organs  for  state  control, 
with  strikes  prohibited,  used  only  as  instruments  to  prevent  labor  from 
seeking  justice. 

(e)  They  hold  that  we  have  a  vast  spread  between  the  rich  and  the 
poor. 

But  their  army  has  a  wider  range  of  pay  than  ours,  and  the  general 
wage  spread  in  the  Soviet  has  increased  while  ours  has  decreased  (Com- 
munism in  Action,  ch.  IV) . 

(/)  They  claim  that  our  form  of  Democracy  is  a  sham  and  theirs  is 
the  true  one. 

But  in  ours  the  party  in  power  can  lose  an  election,  voters  can  shift 
their  allegiance,  new  parties  can  be  organized.  What  they  call  democracy 
involves  a  vote  of  more  than  99  percent  for  the  party  in  power,  with  no 
criticism  of  policy.  Lenin  once  quoted  Engels  to  the  effect  that  when  the 
state  withers  away : 

The  authority  of  the  Government  over  persons  will  be  replaced  by  the  adminis- 
tration of  things  and  the  direction  of  the  processes  of  production. 

In  no  country  in  the  world  is  there  a  closer  approach  to  this  than  in  the 
United  States,  except  that  our  Government  does  not  direct  production. 
In  no  country  in  the  world  today  is  there  such  a  high  degree  of  authority 
over  persons  as  in  the  Soviet. 

(g)  The  Communists  hold  that  our  parties  mislead  and  deceive  the 
voters. 

No  party  in  the  United  States  has  ever  deceived  all  the  voters  if  it 
deceived  any  of  them.  The  single  party  in  the  Soviet  enjoys  unchallenged 
monopoly  of  the  art  of  deception. 

(h)  The  Communists  declare  that  the  capitalist  press  is  the  corrupt 
instrument  of  capitalist  controlled  propaganda. 

There  has  been  much  discussion  on  this  issue  in  recent  years.  The 
Communist  point  of  view  was  stated  by  N.  Baltisky  in  War  and  the 
Working  Class,  in  an  article  that  was  reprinted  in  the  Washington  Post 
of  January  25,  1945.  This  article  was  an  answer  to  the  arguments  put 
forward  by  Mr.  Kent  Cooper  of  the  Associated  Press.  The  text  of  the 
Stalin-Stassen  interview,  published  in  the  New  York  Times  for  April  15, 
1947,  also  had  much  to  say  on  the  subject  of  press  freedom.  The  simple 
fact  that  the  Communist  side  of  the  case  can  be  covered  by  citations  to 
the  American  press  should  make  further  comment  unnecessary.  But  it 
may  be  added  that  their  theory  of  the  party  and  of  democratic  centraliza- 
tion provides  a  role  for  agitation  and  propaganda,  "agitprop"  in  their 
vocabulary,  but  no  role  for  freedom  of  information. 


68  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

(i)  They  hold  that  corruption  is  characteristic  of  our  system,  and 
cite  our  prolific  scandals  in  evidence. 

But  scandal  as  such  depends  upon  standards  of  public  behavior, 
and  scandal  is  rarest  just  where  corruption  has  become  the  rule  instead 
of  the  exception.  Corruption  is,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  an  impossible 
subject  on  which  to  make  accurate  comparisons.  The  existence  of  cor- 
ruption in  the  Soviet  is  not  unheard  of  however,  and  standards  of  public 
honesty  in  the  United  States  have  made  enormous  progress.  The  evolu- 
tion of  their  tactics  on  the  basis  that  "the  end  justifies  the  means,"  is 
really  a  sort  of  systematic  universal  corruption,  instituted  and  legit- 
imized. 

(j)   They  call  us  reactionary. 

Yet  we  are  the  land  of  maximum  progress  toward  freedom  and  wel- 
fare for  all,  and  the  Soviets  the  land  of  maximum  reassertion  of  the 
ancient  characteristics  of  tyranny.  Their  thinking  rejects  the  possibility 
of  peace  while  ours  asserts  it,  and  theirs  rejects  the  capacity  of  freemen 
for  self-direction  while  ours  asserts  it.  Their  eminent  journalist,  Ilya 
Ehrenburg,  some  20  years  ago  wrote  a  fine  chapter  in  a  novel,  in  which 
he  drew  a  parallel  between  a  Bolshevik  commissar  and  the  grand 
inquisitor  of  Dostoevsky's  fable,  told  in  The  Brothers  Karamazov.  No 
account  has  been  publicly  given  of  how  Ehrenburg  made  his  peace  with 
the  commissars,  but  his  original  viewpoint,  in  contrast  with  his  present 
career,  throws  light  on  both  the  character  of  the  Soviet  system  with  its 
reactionary  rejection  of  freedom,  and  on  the  meaning  of  integrity  and 
of  careerism  in  the  Soviet  press. 

(Jc)  According  to  Marx  and  his  followers  the  capitalist  class  are  too 
hide-oound,  and  too  limited  in  vision  oy  their  own  special  interests,  to 
see  the  necessary  way  out  of  the  contradictions  of  capitalism  into  a  system 
where  production  will  oe  unimpeded. 

Both  production  and  democracy  in  the  United  States  have  been  less 
hide-bound  than  anywhere  else.  And  in  the  Soviet,  while  production  has 
grown  it  has  grown  only  for  the  power  of  the  state,  and  democracy  in 
the  sense  of  freedom  has  not  grown  at  all. 

(I)  The  Communists  hold  that  we  are  doomed  to  suffer  another  great 
economic  crisis. 

It  is  too  early  yet  to  claim  that  we  have  proved  the  expectation  false. 
If  we  can  prove  that  it  is  false  we  will  have  to  go  on  proving  it  for  a 
long  time  to  come.  But  we  have  already  gone  past  the  time  when  they 
expected  it.  Meanwhile  they  are  set  in  a  condition  called  permanent 
revolution  in  their  theories.  This  is  not  precisely  the  same  as  an  economic 
depression,  but  it  is  a  condition  requiring  dictatorial  controls,  the  sacri- 
fice of  welfare  for  capital  formation,  the  maintenance  of  an  Iron  Cur- 
tain, agitation  and  propaganda  instead  of  a  free  press.  Permanent  revo- 
lution is  only  another  way  of  saying  that  they  live  permanently  with  the 
conditions  that  we  know  only  as  the  consequences  of  depression. 

(m)  They  denounce  us  for  economic  imperialism. 

Meanwhile  we  have  given  freedom  to  the  Philippines,  and  our 
imperialist  partner,  Britain,  has  granted  freedom  to  more  people  than 
any  conqueror  ever  conquered.  The  United  States  has  freely  given  away 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  69 

more  than  the  amount  of  foreign  investments  ever  held  by  any  imperialist 
power.  And  the  Soviets  have  grasped  every  economic  means  to  exploit 
territories  under  complete  or  partial  control. 

(n)  They  equally  denounce  our  political  imperialism. 

But  it  is  we  who  aid  others,  not  to  become  "Yankee  stooges"  but 
to  get  on  their  feet  and  be  themselves,  and  it  is  they  who  can  tolerate  no 
independent  power  whatever  except  for  the  time  being  and  pending  the 
''inevitable  conflict." 

(o)  They  call  us  "war  mongers." 

But  it  is  we  who  have  believed  that  there  need  not  be  another  war, 
and  we  who  are  disillusioned  at  the  prospect  of  preventing  one,  now  that 
the  difficulties  are  apparent.  And  it  is  they  who  lay  down  as  fundamental 
doctrine  that  there  must  be  a  final  ghastly  struggle. 

(p)  They  accuse  the  capitalist  world  of  resorting  to  terrorism 
against  the  challenge  of  revolution. 

The  roots  of  Communist  terror  may  originate  in  Communism  or  in 
Russian  brutality.  Russia  never  went  through  the  historical  develop- 
ment of  humanitarianism  that  has  reduced  brutality  in  western  countries. 
But  this  question  need  not  be  settled  here.  The  modern  classic  on  terror- 
ism is  Trotsky's  Defense  of  Terrorism.  He  was  a  Bolshevik  in  good  stand- 
ing when  he  wrote  it,  and  for  years  afterward.  How  much  the  Hitler 
terror  owed  to  lessons  from  the  Communists  is  a  story  not  yet  told, 
though  many  scraps  of  evidence  have  been  published. 

(q)  They  regard  us  as  "hard  to  get  along  with,"  and  attribute  this 
naturally  to  our  capitalist -imperialist  designs. 

An  opinion  on  the  subject  has  been  expressed  by  a  source  with  which 
few  will  choose  to  differ.  Mrs.  F.  D.  Roosevelt,  in  her  column  in  the  Wash- 
ington Daily  News  for  January  3, 1948,  said : 

I  do  not  think  we  have  always  been  wise  or  tactful  in  our  approach  to  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  U.S.S.R.,  but  basically  we  have  been  the  ones  to  make  the  constructive 
offers  and  they  have  been  the  ones  to  refuse. 

(r)  Their  general  charges  against  any  idea  of  hope  or  successful 
reform  in  our  system,  are  variations  on  the  old  charge  that  all  such  hopes 
offer  the  workers  "pie  in  the  sky." 

But  if  conditions  for  labor  in  the  United  States  today  are  "pie  in 
the  sky"  or  if  recovery  in  other  countries  by  immediate  American  aid 
is  so  described,  what  figure  of  speech  can  be  devised  to  cover  the  withering 
away  of  the  state  only  after  a  world  proletarian  dictatorship,  which  will 
not  begin  until  after  one  more  great  holocaust  of  war,  which  may  itself 
not  occur  until  after  three  or  four  more  5-year  plans  have  armed  the 
Soviet,  as  prescribed  by  Stalin  ? 

Such  a  catalog  of  Communist  charges  and  answers  may  not  be  con- 
clusive on  each  single  point,  but  its  general  weight  suggests  a  sharp  dis- 
crepancy between  the  Communist  mythology  and  the  facts. 

A  direct  approach  to  the  questions  that  this  raises  may  be  made 
through  an  examination  of  Stalin's  list  of  the  three  great  "contradic- 
tions" of  capitalism,  quoted  above  on  Page  21. 

These  contradictions  are  the  one  between  the  capitalist  class  and  the 
working  class  within  a  capitalist  country,  the  one  between  the  competing 


70  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

imperialist  nations,  and  the  one  between  the  imperialist  nations  and  the 
subject  peoples. 

Now  the  Communist  idea  of  the  post-revolutionary  condition  of 
human  life  on  this  planet  may  be  defined  as  one  in  which  these  contra- 
dictions have  been  removed.  If  we  were  to  add  anything,  it  might  be  that 
after  the  revolution  production  will  be  freed  of  the  restraints  imposed 
by  the  profit  system. 

So  far  as  the  first  contradiction  goes,  the  working  class  in  the  United 
States,  while  not  finally  and  forever  satisfied  now  enjoys  life  in  a  sys- 
tem that  gives  the  average  worker  a  heavily  larger  share  of  the  benefits  of 
production  than  is  true  in  the  Soviet ;  and  the  largest  share  of  production 
ever  known  in  history.  Marx  included  in  his  original  theory  of  capitalism 
the  conclusion  that  the  rich  must  get  richer  and  the  poor  poorer  until  the 
revolution.  Under  rising  wage  standards,  and  with  graduated  income  and. 
inheritance  taxes,  just  the  opposite  has  occurred. 

As  for  the  second  contradiction,  and  the  third  one,  both  have  been 
succeeded  by  the  present  tendency  toward  the  granting  of  freedom  to 
former  colonial  areas. 

The  United  States  has  played  a  small  part  in  this  for  the  simple 
reason  that  it  has  had  but  few  colonies  to  turn  loose. 

But  Britain  has  spent  a  century  in  freeing  her  dominions  from 
colonial  status,  and  has  now  extended  the  process  to  India  and  Burma. 
The  "imperialist  powers"  are  loyal  participants  in  the  United  Nations, 
where  such  a  case  as  that  of  Indonesia  can  be  heard  and  dealt  with,  not 
to  immediate  and  total  satisfaction,  but  at  least  not  conforming  to 
imperialist  tradition. 

THE  FREEDOM  QUESTION 

The  relative  freedom  of  nations  in  our  system  or  theirs  is  explicit 
in  their  own  argument.  As  long  as  ours  endures,  they  themselves  expect 
wars  between  the  capitalist  nations.  On  their  side  they  assume  a  mono- 
lithic bloc.  It  is  clear  from  this  that  the  preservation  of  free  states  by 
our  aid,  would  not  necessarily  nor  probably  mean  an  anti-Soviet  bloc, 
while  any  group  under  their  auspices  could  not  fail  to  be  an  alliance 
designed  for  world  revolution  and  war. 

All  of  this  suggests  the  novel  idea  that  we  have  evolved  solutions 
for  the  causes  of  the  revolution,  that  we  are  now  postr evolutionary  in 
character,  not  prerevolutionary. 

An  examination  of  the  history  of  Communism  on  the  one  hand  and 
of  the  advanced  nations  on  the  other,  throws  additional  light  on  this 
point. 

Communism  was  initially  based  upon  observations  made  by  Marx 
and  Engels  of  the  most  advanced  industrial  nations  in  the  mid-nineteenth 
century.  It  found  its  first  practical  application  in  Russia  in  1917,  a 
country  at  that  time  intermediate  in  industrial  development. 

Lenin  and  Stalin  have  found  adequate  explanations  for  the  occur- 
rence of  the  revolution  in  Russia  rather  than  in  any  of  the  more  advanced 
countries.  "What  they  failed  to  notice  was  that  the  very  ease  with  which 
they  found  the  explanation  suggested  that  there  might  be  good  reasons 
why  the  revolution  did  not  come  in  the  advanced  countries.  The  advanced 
countries  were  in  fact  not  so  close  to  revolution  as  they  had  been  in  the 
time  of  Marx  and  Engels.  The  revolution  had  receded  instead  of 
approaching. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  71 

Set  this  against  later  experience  in  the  advanced  countries.  In  1922 
in  Italy  Mussolini  came  to  power,  and  the  Communists  have  ever  since 
considered  this  an  exhibit  of  the  last  form  of  capitalist  resistance  to  the 
revolution.  Yet  even  with  Mussolini  gone  the  proletarian  revolution  has 
not  occured  in  Italy. 

In  1933  Hitler  came  to  power  in  Germany.  In  the  same  period  Aus- 
tria evolved  a  curious  breed  of  government  sometimes  called  ''clerical 
fascism. ' '  These  forms,  as  is  now  evident,  were  not  the  last  stage  of  capi- 
talism before  the  revolution.  Hitler 's  dictatorship  was  far  more  like  the 
Jacobin  dictatorship  of  the  French  Revolution  than  any  other  counter- 
part. These  occurrences,  whatever  their  nature  may  have  been,  were 
occurrences  unknown  to  and  unaccountable  for  by  any  theories  of  Marx- 
ism. They  were  events  that  could  occur  only  in  countries  more  advanced 
than  anything  Marxism  could  deal  with.  This  strengthens  the  suggestion 
that  the  advance  of  economics  and  politics  has  simply  passed  by  and 
beyond  the  conditions  for  which  Marxism  is  pertinent. 

The  case  of  the  United  States  expressed  in  Marxist  terms  would  be 
somewhat  as  follows:  The  United  States  has  passed  through  and  beyond 
the  capitalist  system  as  described  by  Marxism.  The  contradictions  of 
capitalism  have  been  eliminated,  or  are  on  the  way  to  elimination  through 
genuine  and  adequate  remedies.  The  United  States  is  post-,  not  pre- 
r evolutionary,  in  character. 

The  problem  of  world  organization  is  therefore  actually  soluble 
without  a  further  stage  of  revolution.  "The  United  States  of  Europe' ' 
or  the  same  thing  in  effect,  is  neither  reactionary  nor  impossible. 

The  rationality  of  freemen,  self-directed,  is  still  superior  to  the 
rationality  of  a  rigid  theory  and  a  disciplined  organization.  It  has  solved 
and  is  solving  the  problems  that  Communism  holds  are  soluble  only 
through  and  after  violent  revolution. 

The  anarchy  of  the  system  of  sixty-odd  nation  states  is  evolving 
into  international  cooperation. 

The  rich  are  not  getting  richer  and  the  poor  poorer.  Production  is 
not  impeded  by  capitalism,  and  the  worker  gets  a  much  larger  share  of  the 
product  in  the  United  States  than  in  the  Soviet. 

It  is  Communism  which  antedates  in  character  the  American  Revo- 
lution, and  is  obsolete.  The  United  States  does  not  antedate  the  Russian 
Revolution,  and  is  not  obsolete.  It  is  the  United  States  today  that  repre- 
sents most  nearly  the  conditions  laid  down,  even  by  the  Communists,  as 
conditions  to  be  achieved  after  the  revolution.  Our  present  objective 
must  be  to  fulfill  this  promise. 

E.    NEGATIVE  COUNTERMEASURES 

The  first  conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  the  strategy  and  tactics  of 
world  Communism  is  that  we  have  to  do  something  about  them. 

Whether  the  revolution  is  inevitable  or  not,  their  ability  to  disturb 
and  disrupt  is  such  that  they  might  make  a  revolutionary  smashup 
unavoidable. 

To  prevent  this,  to  make  sure  that  there  will  not  be  another  world 
war  and  a  violent  world  revolution  if  it  is  humanly  avoidable,  requires 
that  the  non-Communist  world  have  the  chance  to  prove  itself.  In  order 
to  do  so  it  must  be  insulated  against  Communist  tactics.  Communist 
action  will  increase  the  economic  and  social  strains  in  non-Communist 


72  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

countries,  and  if  they  have  free  opportunity  to  do  so  there  may  be  a 
catastrophe  that  would  not  have  occurred  without  them. 

In  order  to  take  protective  measures  we  must  be  clear  about  what 
part  of  the  world  must  be  protected.  A  positive  goal  of  economic  stabiliza- 
tion, international  collaboration,  and  peace  cannot  be  worked  out  by 
each  nation  for  itself.  All  are  dependent  in  large  degree  upon  the  iron 
necessities  of  material  requirements.  Modern  industry  and  modern 
civilization  cannot  exist  without  materials  that  are  found  in  no  one 
country.  The  abolition  of  the  causes  of  war  cannot  go  on  in  each  country 
by  itself. 

Certain  areas  must  be  included  in  the  non-Communist  world  if  that 
world  is  to  try  the  experiment  of  proving  that  it  is  past  the  stage  of  world 
revolution. 

Some  of  these,  such  as  the  Near  East  must  be  included  because  they 
have  necessary  materials.  The  oil  of  the  Near  East  is  indispensable  to 
the  energy  and  power  basis  of  civilization  in  the  non-Communist  world. 

Others  must  be  included,  because  their  human  resources,  in  num- 
bers and  skills,  are  such  that  if  they  passed  from  one  side  to  the  other 
there  would  be  a  great  increase  in  the  Communist  power  to  hamper  the 
stability  of  our  side,  and  a  great  decrease  in  the  power  of  resistance  on 
our  side.  Such  countries  as  France  and  Italy  and  Germany  and  China 
must  be  included  on  this  account. 

This  means  that  the  area  within  which  an  experiment,  to  prove  that 
war  and  revolution  are  obsolete,  can  be  conducted  with  hope  of  success 
is  approximately  the  same  as  the  present  non-Communist  world. 

Within  this  non-Communist  area,  the  all-important  measures  will 
be  the  positive  ones.  But  the  positive  ones  cannot  be  carried  on  unless 
Communist  sabotage  and  interference  is  fended  off.  In  order  to  fend 
them  off,  the  following  measures  are  needed. 

First.  We  must  analyze  Communism  more  thoroughly  than  in  the 
past,  and  this  study  of  Communism  must  not  be  only  by  specialists  on 
the  subject,  but  must  be  clearly  expressed  in  terms  that  can  reach  the 
democratic  peoples  of  the  world. 

The  fact  that  Communists  do  not  believe  in  peace,  nor  in  economic 
recovery,  and  that  their  hopes  are  only  for  chaos  and  dictatorship  must 
be  clearly  seen  by  all.  The  fact  that  sincere  cooperation  for  our  goals  is 
impossible  must  be  put  beyond  dispute. 

Second.  We  must  deny  the  Communists  any  favors  or  special  oppor- 
tunities to  practice  their  infiltration  tactics. 

This  does  not  mean  that  we  must  seriously  modify  our  own  consti- 
tutional system,  nor  that  we  can  build  an  absolute  Chinese  wall  against 
them,  but  it  does  mean  that  we  must  reduce  their  opportunities  to  cut 
or  cross  the  wires  of  our  system.  "While  we  should  not  deny  them  the 
rights  of  all  men  under  our  Constitution,  it  is  hardly  consistent  with  our 
security,  nor  required  by  our  conception  of  rights,  to  permit  them  to 
hold  positions  in  Government  departments. 

Third.  Certain  measures  of  political  defense  must  be  taken  in  many 
non-Communist  countries. 

Ultrademocratic  features,  such  as  proportional  representation  and 
supreme  power  in  the  hands  of  the  legislature  alone,  play  into  the  hands 
of  the  Communists.  The  United  States  cannot  by  itself  control  these 
matters  in  other  countries,  but  it  can  at  least  lend  a  more  sympathetic 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  73 

and  understanding  support  to  measures  for  stronger  democratic  govern- 
ment, and  a  less  sympathetic  support  for  the  ultrademocratic  tactics  of 
Communism  than  in  the  past. 

Fourth.  Measures  of  economic  defense  are  needed,  by  the  United 
States  and  by  all  other  non-Communist  countries. 

These  must  not  slide  into  the  naive  solution  of  barring  all  trade 
with  the  Soviets. 

But  trade  with  the  Soviets  should  be  placed  and  kept  on  a  basis  of 
even  advantage  to  both  sides,  and  an  equal  respect  for  obligations.  Con- 
tracts that  transfer  industrial  knowledge  should  be  screened  with  par- 
ticular  care.  Aid  and  loans  to  governments  that  have  not  met  international 
obligations  within  the  plain  meaning  of  the  words  of  such  agreements 
should  not  be  made  without  substantial  considerations  granted  by  the 
recipients.  In  general,  the  conduct  of  all  economic  relations  with  the 
Communist-controlled  countries  should  be  designed  for  equal  benefit  in 
all  cases,  and  a  balance  of  benefit  to  them  in  none. 

Fifth.  Our  propaganda  to  the  Communist-controlled  countries  should 
not  be  conducted,  on  the  defensive. 

We  should  tell  them  that  we  are  more  advanced  than  they  are,  that 
we  are  already  postrevolutionary,  that  we  promise  peace,  not  war,  while 
they  can  only  promise  war,  not  peace.  We  should  emphasize  every  suc- 
cess as  a  success  toward  the  fulfillment  of  this  promise. 

Sixth.  We  must  avoid  a  drift  into  recrimination  and  abuse. 

It  may  be  that  neither  side  really  knows  what  the  world  situation 
today  means,  that  neither  one  can  penetrate  the  mystery  of  present 
development.  In  that  case  war  may  of  course  be  expected  as  a  feature  of 
life  in  the  future  as  in  the  past.  But  to  accept  this  is  to  accept  their  doc- 
trine about  us,  for  that  is  just  what  they  believe  about  us.  And  if  they 
are  right  about  that  we  have  no  case  against  them.  Our  argument  is 
that  we  do  have  a  case  against  them.  That  case  calls  for  mastery,  not  for 
drift,  and  recrimination  is  a  form  of  drift. 

Seventh.  If  we  succeed  in  the  only  kind  of  project  that  can  make 
positive  sense,  one  of  the  accompaniments  will  be  a  new  turn  of  Com* 
munist  policy  from  a  radical  offensive  drive  to  a  moderate  defensive 
policy. 

When  we  have  brought  them  to  such  a  turn  we  will  have  gained  time. 
It  must  then  be  one  of  our  incidental  aims  to  keep  them  from  ever  turn- 
ing back  to  the  offensive.  But  that  aim  will  be  a  byproduct  of  our  positive 
actions,  not  of  our  negative  ones. 

F.    POSITIVE  COUNTERMEASURES 

Former  Secretary  of  State  Byrnes  uses  a  quotation  from  Lincoln  at 
the  opening  of  his  recent  book  that  deserves  emphasis  in  the  United  States 
today.  "If  we  could  first  know  where  we  are,  and  whither  we  are  tending, 
we  could  better  judge  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it. ' '  We  have  not  known 
clearly  in  recent  years  where  we  were  in  relation  to  Communism,  nor 
whither  we  were  tending  in  relation  to  Communism,  and  we  have  in  con- 
sequence not  known  very  well  what  to  do  nor  how  to  do  it. 

The  first  and  most  indispensable  thing  we  have  to  do  is  to  keep  our 
economy  on  an  even  keel,  and  go  forward  without  a  depression. 

We  need  not  totally  abolish  all  signs  of  the  old  ' '  business  cycle ' ' ; 
economic  fluctuations  of  moderate  scale  can,  and  even  should,  remain  a 


74  un-americAN  Activities  in  California 

part  of  our  system  and  of  its  superior  flexibility.  But  if  we  have  one  more 
real  smash  it  may  shift  the  scales  of  power  beyond  repair.  If  we  have  any 
faith  that  we  are  right  and  they  wrong,  this  is  the  most  immediate  test 
our  faith  must  meet,  and  faith  can  meet  it  only  with  intelligence. 

Second,  we  must  clarify  our  own  argument. 

One  factor  in  the  weakness  of  morale  in  the  non-Communist  world, 
and  in  the  strength  of  morale  in  the  Communist  world,  is  the  clarity  of 
their  ideas  and  the  vagueness  of  ours.  This  does  not  mean  that  we  must 
have  as  neat  a  cut-glass  theory  as  theirs.  But  that  ours  has  been  unneces- 
sarily vague  in  the  past  has  been  testified  by  good  witnesses.  Winston 
Churchill  complained  during  the  war,  in  speeches  to  Parliament,  that 
the  policies  of  the  United  States  were  not  as  clear  as  seemed  desirable  to 
him.  He  was  echoed  by  Senator  Vandenberg  in  his  speech  to  the  Senate 
on  January  10,  1945. 

Yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  our  Government  has  not  spoken  out — to  our  own 
people  or  to  our  allies — in  any  such  specific  fashion  as  have  the  others.  It  cannot  be 
denied,  as  a  result,  that  too  often  a  grave  melancholy  settles  upon  some  sectors  of  our 
people. 

Actually  our  Government  has  said  much  of  what  ought  to  be  said. 
But  it  seems  to  take  it  for  granted  that  what  has  been  said  has  been  said 
once  and  for  all,  that  the  Congress  and  the  people  have  memories  of 
infinite  capacity. 

CLEAR  POLICY  MUST  BE  STATED 

The  Truman  doctrine  and  the  Marshall  plan  make  sense  as  the 
bumper  to  fend  off  Communism  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  positive  policy 
of  assisting  in  creative  development  in  the  protected  area  on  the  other. 
Yet  official  statements  never  attempted  to  make  this  relation  clear,  and 
public  discussion  went  on  for  many  months  on  the  question  of  whether 
the  two  were  in  harmony  or  contradiction  with  each  other. 

President  Truman  made  three  speeches  in  rapid  succession  a  year 
ago,  at  Baylor  University  on  world  trade,  at  Mexico  on  inter- American 
relations,  and  in  Washington  when  he  appealed  to  the  Congress  for  aid 
to  Greece  and  Turkey.  These  three  speeches  might  have  been  placed  side 
by  side  as  statements  on  three  aspects  of  the  world  situation  and  United 
States  policy.  If  that  had  been  done  the  apparently  negative  character 
of  the  policy  on  Greece  and  Turkey  would  have  taken  on  another  aspect. 

We  have  a  policy  toward  the  United  Nations,  a  policy  of  hope  that 
it  can  serve  greatly  in  the  mastery  of  the  causes  of  war.  We  have  a  mili- 
tary establishment  of  our  own,  designed  to  guarantee  that  no  power 
will  find  an  opportunity  to  start  a  great,  aggressive  war  with  hope  of 
victory. 

We  have  a  policy  on  the  international  control  of  atomic  energy, 
designed  to  place  this  control  above  the  sovereignty  of  nations,  and  to 
make  atomic  energy  a  great  factor  in  civilization  instead  of  in  war. 

We  have  a  policy  on  world  trade,  designed  to  make  increasing  trade 
a  factor  in  economic  stability  and  economic  progress. 

We  have,  with  our  near  neighbors,  the  policy  of  the  good  neighbor 
designed  to  introduce  a  common  means  of  mastering  common  problems, 
in  an  area  where  such  common  problems  are  more  intense  than  in  the 
world  as  a  whole. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  75 

We  have  followed  a  policy  extending  loans  and  free  gifts  to  countries 
needing  aid  in  order  to  pass  more  quickly  through  the  postwar  adjust- 
ments of  reconstruction,  and  in  order  to  shorten  the  opportunity  of  Com- 
munism to  take  advantage  of  their  difficulties. 

We  have  a  policy  expressed  in  our  adherence  to  the  Bretton  Woods 
agreements,  on  the  World  Monetary  Fund  and  on  the  International  Bank 
for  Reconstruction  and  Development,  designed  to  afford  means  for  stabi- 
lization and  reconstruction  to  supplement  the  atrophied  use  of  gold  and 
to  assist  other  means  of  credit. 

We  have  been  extending  the  good  neighbor  policy  in  many  ways  to 
all  areas  of  Europe  and  Asia  that  show  any  readiness  to  cooperate.  There 
is  little  quarrel  with  most  of  these  principles  of  our  policy  taken  singly. 
But  the  fact  that  they  add  up  to  make  a  program  is  almost  unknown. 

We  have  been  forced  by  the  events  of  the  last  two  years  to  admit  to 
ourselves  that  the  Communists  do  not  believe  in  the  things  we  believe 
in,  and  cannot  collaborate  with  us  in  the  work  of  peace.  This  has  brought 
us  reluctantly  to  admit  that  we  have  ourselves  a  will,  on  our  own  responsi- 
bility, to  safeguard  the  chance  of  the  non-Communist  world  for  peace 
and  reconstruction.  This  requires,  as  they  recognize  more  clearly  than 
we  do,  that  we  also  accept  on  our  own  responsibility  the  unavoidable  posi- 
tion of  the  center  of  the  non-Communist  world,  the  main  force,  the  one 
that  must  be  strong  if  men  anywhere  are  to  be  free. 

In  a  nutshell,  our  objective  is  to  prove  that  Lenin  was  wrong.  He 
believed  that  there  could  be  no  solution  of  the  faults  of  capitalism  with- 
out violent  world  revolution.  We  have  gone  through  two  World  Wars, 
from  which  Communism  benefited.  There  are  good  reasons  for  believing 
that  the  third  one  need  not  occur,  that  the  mastery  of  human  affairs  has 
reached  the  point  where  man  no  longer  need  be  the  passive  victim  of 
automatic  forces  in  history. 

In  America  today  we  have  a  freedom  and  a  power  that  more  and 
more  confirm  each  other.  This  is  the  newest  thing  in  the  world,  the  first 
fulfillment  of  all  the  dreams  of  all  the  revolutions.  It  is  so  new  that  we 
scarcely  recognize  or  trust  it  ourselves.  There  are  those  among  us  who 
deny  that  freedom  and  power  can  exist  together,  and  who  predict  strife 
and  conflict.  The  Communists,  gazing  through  eyes  covered  by  the  horny 
scales  of  dogma,  cannot  see  it  at  all.  In  their  books  it  belongs  to  the  future. 
But  there  are  many  signs  of  it  in  the  present :  American  equality,  and 
American  production,  and  even  the  careless  generosity  of  American  aid 
to  Russia  in  her  need  and  beyond  her  need. 

It  was  laid  down  in  our  tradition  as  long  ago  as  Milton  that  freedom 
would  approach  the  goal  by  the  shortest  route.  The  Communists  turned 
their  backs  on  this,  and  have  postponed  freedom  until  after  power,  seek- 
ing to  impose  truth  through  a  system  before  men  can  be  trusted  to  seek  it. 
They  claim  that  the  world  revolution  lies  in  the  future,  and  that  freedom 
lies  beyond  the  revolution.  In  those  terms,  our  faith  is  that  the  worst  of 
the  world  revolution  lies  in  the  past.  The  time  to  prove  how  men  can  live 
is  now. 

Stalin  once  paid  us  a  compliment,  which  we  may  try  to  deserve 
beyond  the  way  in  which  he  meant  it.  He  said : 

The  best  antidote  to  revolutionary  fantasy  is  practical  work  imbued  with  the 
American  spirit.  Such  businesslike,  practical  endeavour  is  an  unquenchable  force,  one 


76  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

which  recognizes  no  obstacles,  one  which,  by  sheer  common  sense,  thrusts  aside  every- 
thing that  might  impede  progress,  one  which  invariably  carries  a  thing  once  embarked 
upon  to  completion  (even  though  the  affair  itself  may  seem  a  puny  one),  one  without 
which  any  genuine  work  of  construction  is  impossible.  But  the  practical,  businesslike 
American  spirit  is  liable  to  degenerate  into  unprincipled  commercialism,  if  it  be  not 
allied  with  revolutionary  zeal.  (Stalin,  Leninism,  p.  176.) 

To  pursue  our  goals  with  zeal  but  without  fantasy,  to  be  revolutionary 
in  the  sense  of  progress,  but  not  in  the  sense  of  violence  and  turmoil, 
this  means  to  accept  and  to  use  those  American  qualities  that  we  have 
proved  in  the  past,  in  which  we  have  confidence.  We  have  been  marked 
by  history  as  the  only  possible  candidate  for  an  important  role.  If  we 
can  still  show  the  qualities  of  businesslike,  practical  endeavour  and  sheer 
common  sense,  with  a  modicum  of  attention  to  ' '  where  we  are  and  whither 
we  are  tending, ' '  we  may  deserve  also  for  this  age  the  terms  used  by  Mil- 
ton, in  his  Areopagitica : 

Methinks  I  see  in  my  mind  a  noble  and  puissant  nation  rousing  herself  like  a 
strong  man  after  sleep,  and  shaking  her  invincible  locks :  methinks  I  see  her  as  an 
eagle  mewing  her  mighty  youth,  and  kindling  her  undazzled  eye  at  the  full  midday 
beam,  purging  and  unsealing  her  long  abused  sight  at  the  fountain  itself  of  heavenly 
radiance,  while  the  whole  noise  of  timorous  and  mocking  birds,  with  those  also  that 
love  the  twilight,  flutter  about,  amazed  at  what  she  means,  and  in  their  envious  gabble 
would  prognosticate  a  year  of  sects  and  schisms. 

A  New,  Uncharted  Era 

Your  committee  points  out,  in  conclusion,  that  the  most  important 
single  fact  about  the  entire  problem  of  Communism  is  that  the  world 
is  entering  an  entirely  new  period  of  strategy  and  tactics  which  presents 
broad  and  monumental  questions  for  decision  that  are  equally  as  per- 
plexing to  the  Communist  theoreticians  as  they  are  to  anti- Communists. 

In  the  entire  100  years  march  of  world  Communism,  from  the  pub- 
lication of  the  Communist  Manifesto  in  February,  1848,  to  the  present 
"cold  war"  between  the  Communist  and  non-Communist  forces  in  the 
world,  no  comparable  historical  situation  has  existed. 

We  have  shown  that  Communism  is  based  on  the  theory  that  economic 
capitalism  and  parliamentary  democracy  are  beset  with  basic  internal 
contradictions  and  it  believes  these  internal  contradictions  will  lead  to 
chaos;  consequently  a  Marxist  "scientific"  interpretation  of  history 
inevitably  demands  that  Communists  seek  to  destroy  economic  capitalism 
and  parliamentary  democracy  to  impose  a  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat 
(the  working  class)  over  all  other  classes  to  solve  the  chaos  resulting 
from  these  contradictions. 

We  on  the  anti-Communist  side,  however,  believe  that  freedom  and 
liberty,  for  which  mankind  has  struggled  upward  from  slavery  through 
the  centuries,  provide  the  indispensable  atmosphere  in  which  the  con- 
flicts and  contradictions  of  any  society  may  be  solved  peacefully  for  the 
benefit  of  all  mankind. 

Careful  study  reveals  that  history  and  time  are  forcing  world  Com- 
munism into  new  and  uncharted  fields  of  activity  in  which  Communism 
is  encountering  contradictions  of  its  own  that  place  the  whole  "cold 
war ' '  situation  in  a  new  perspective. 

Your  committee  has  presented  herewith  an  analysis  of  the  broad  out- 
lines of  this  world  situation,  and  we  call  attention  to  the  inescapable 
fact  that  the  future  of  humanity  for  centuries  to  come  will  be  deter- 
mined by  the  decisions  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  on  these  matters. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  77 

OUR  POSITIVE  POSITION 

The  positive  position  of  the  "American  Way"  in  contrast  to  the 
position  of  world  Communism  has  been  cited  specifically  on  Pages  70,  71 
and  75  of  this  Report,  as  follows : 

<t#  #  #  j£  js  cjear  *  *  #  ^hat  ^he  preservation  of  free  states  by 
our  aid,  would  not  necessarily  nor  probably  mean  an  anti-Soviet  bloc, 
while  any  group  under  their  auspices  could  not  fail  to  be  an  alliance 
designed  for  world  revolution  and  war  *  *  *.  This  strengthens  the 
suggestion  that  the  advance  of  economics  and  politics  has  simply 
passed  by  and  beyond  the  conditions  for  which  Marxism  is  pertinent. 
The  case  of  the  United  States  in  Marxist  terms  would  be  somewhat 
as  follows :  The  United  States  has  passed  through  and  beyond  the 
capitalist  system  as  described  by  Marxism.  The  contradictions  of 
capitalism  have  been  eliminated  or  are  on  the  way  to  elimination 
through  genuine  and  adequate  remedies.  The  United  States  is  post- 
revolutionary,  not  pre-revolutionary,  in  character  *  *  * ; " 
This  analysis  goes  on  to  state  that : 

"  *  *  *  We  have  been  forced  by  the  events  of  the  last  two 
years  to  admit  to  ourselves  that  the  Communists  do  not  believe  in 
the  things  we  believe  in,  and  cannot  collaborate  with  us  in  the  work 
of  peace.  This  has  brought  us  reluctantly  to  admit  that  we  have  our- 
selves a  will,  on  our  own  responsibility,  to  safeguard  the  chance  of 
the  non-Communist  world  for  peace  and  reconstruction.  This 
requires  *  *  *  that  we  also  accept  on  our  own  responsibility  the 
unavoidable  position  of  the  center  of  the  non-Communist  world, 
the  main  force,  the  one  that  must  be  strong  if  men  anywhere  are  to 
be  free  *  *  *.  In  a  nutshell,  our  objective  is  to  prove  that  Lenin 
was  wrong.  He  believed  that  there  could  be  no  solution  to  the  faults 
of  capitalism  without  violent  revolution  *  *  *.  There  are  good 
reasons  for  believing  that  the  mastery  of  human  affairs  has  reached 
the  point  where  man  no  longer  need  be  the  passive  victim  of  auto- 
matic forces  in  history  *  *  *.  In  America  today  we  have  a  freedom 
and  power  that  more  than  confirm  each  other.  This  is  the  newest 
thing  in  the  world,  the  first  fulfillment  of  the  dreams  of  all  the 
revolutions!  *  *  *." 

This  vital  truth  stands  as  a  solid  rock  against  which  Communism's 
pseudo-scientific  theory  has  begun  to  splinter  with  each  attack  it  makes 
against  human  freedom,  dignity  and  liberty ! 

Hardened  Communists  have  clung  tenaciously  to  their  Marxist- 
Leninist-Stalinist  theories  because  they  have  proved  ruthlessly  successful 
as  a  science  of  revolution.  But  Communism's  greatest  contradiction  is 
that  it  basically  is  nothing  more  than  a  ruthless,  inhumane  science  of 
materialistic  revolution  and  conspiracy,  in  which  any  elements  of  con- 
structive accomplishment  for  the  benefit  of  humanity  are  vague  promise 
with  neither  a  technique  nor  a  moral  atmosphere  that  produces  per- 
formance. 

As  long  as  Communism's  unproved,  untried,  untested  perfectionist 
promises  were  agitated  and  propagandized  against,  the  contradictions  and 
imperfections  of  an  existing  economic  capitalism  and  parliamentary 
democracy ;  and  at  the  same  time  Communists  could  conspire,  plot  and 
betray  in  total  disregard  of  the  fundamental  morals  and  decencies  of 


78  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

human  relationships;  Communism  maintained  a  strategic  and  tactical 
advantage  on  which  it  capitalized  to  achieve  the  most  ruthless  expansion 
and  dominance  over  great  masses  of  humanity  in  world  history. 

Communism  has  vaulted  into  the  saddle  but  it  is  finding  that  it  does 
not  know  how  to  ride.  Its  enraged  response  is  to  kill  the  horse. 

Communism  is  discovering  new  failures  and  contradictions,  now  that 
it  is  forced  to  try  to  go  beyond  its  unquestionably  successful  but  despi- 
cable theory  of  how  to  run  a  revolution : 

In  this  situation,  it  has  launched  a  mammoth  "back  to  Marxism" 
program  throughout  the  world  Communist  movement  in  an  attempt  to 
solve  its  mounting  problems  and  also  to  control  and  suppress  dissenters 
to  achieve  the  indispensable  discipline  it  needs  now  that  it  is  being  moved 
relentlessly  by  events  to  showdowns  which  were  not  foreseen  by  its 
psuedo-science. 

In  succeeding  sections  of  this  fifth  report,  the  documented  proof 
of  the  Communist  goal  of  world  revolution  by  force  and  violence  is 
presented.  In  directly  following  sections,  on  The  Domestic  Situation 
and  The  California  Situation,  your  committee  presents  analysis  of  the 
contradictions  that  now  confront  World  Communism  and  their  relation- 
ship to  legislative,  legal  and  civic  action  in  the  American  way  to  meet 
the  menace  of  this  grandiose  conspirac}^  to  rule  all  humanity  under  a 
bloody  dictatorship. 

Pertinent  Official  Communist  Documents 

Legislators,  public  officials,  attorneys  and  researchers  will  find 
invaluable  reference  material  in  the  compilation  by  the  Congressional 
Foreign  Affairs  Committee  Subcommittee  No.  5,  of  a  Supplement  to  its 
Report  on  The  Strategy  and  Tactics  of  World  Communism.  (Copies  may 
be  obtained  from  the  U.  S.  Government  Printing  Office,  Washington, 
D.  C.) 

Your  committee  presents  herewith  a  brief  explanation  why  this 
supplement,  containing  the  full  text  of  basic  Communist  documents,  was 
published  and  a  complete  listing  of  the  documents  with  their  page  listing 
in  the  printed  House  Committee  Supplement. 

The  publication  of  such  a  collection  of  documents  requires  some 
justification.  There  are  several  reasons  why  it  is  needed. 

First,  though  chosen  quotations  can  pin-point  the  chief  ideas  of 
Communists,  from  Marx  and  Lenin  to  Stalin  and  Molotov  and  Zhdanov, 
quotations  cannot  carry  the  massive  impact  of  larger  texts. 

Also,  a  modern  audience  is  sophisticated  enough  to  be  aware  of  the 
arts  of  quoting  short  statements  out  of  context,  and  this  skepticism  of 
the  audience  should  be  met  by  telling  the  whole  story.  The  use  of  brief 
quotations  in  the  report  is,  therefore,  backed  up  by  this  presentation  on 
a  larger,  though  still  moderate,  scale. 

Second,  though  there  have  been  other  collections  made  from  the 
Communist  classics,  none  of  these  serves  the  present  purpose.  In  some 
cases,  as  that  of  Emile  Burns'  Handbook  of  Marxism,  the  selection 
emphasizes  the  economic  theory  of  capitalism  far  more  than  is  appro- 
priate in  the  present  case  and  the  world-wide  strategy  and  tactics  of 
Communism  and  of  the  Soviet  Union  far  too  little. 

Other  collections  are  too  narrow  in  range,  either  in  the  matter  of 
the  time  span  covered  or  in  the  subject  matter  selected.  And  no  prewar 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  79 

collection  can  demonstrate  that  they  think  the  same  today.  The  items  in 
this  collection  do  so  demonstrate. 

Third,  issues  change  as  times  change,  for  us  no  less  than  for  the 
Communists.  It  is  all  too  clear  that  only  recently  the  United  States  was 
still  ready  to  interpret  a  temporary  phase  of  Communist  tactics  as  a 
fundamental  change  in  Communist  ideas.  In  fact,  there  seems  to  have 
been,  ever  since  the  first  turn-away  from  radicalism  in  1921,  a  general 
tendency  toward  overoptimism  in  the  interpretation  of  major  changes 
in  the  Communist  line.  When  they  have  turned  to  the  right,  observers 
have  hailed  it  as  a  fundamental  change.  "They  are  going  capitalist  or 
democratic. ' ' 

Only  when  they  have  turned  lack  toward  the  left  have  observers 
admitted  that  there  might  be  something  unchanging ;  an  unchanging 
faith  in  revolution  and  an  unchanging  faith  in  the  adaptation  of  a  zigzag 
course  to  the  turns  of  history.  Past  studies  have  permitted,  more  than 
they  have  prevented,  the  recurrent  idea  of  fundamental  change  in  Com- 
munism. In  this  set  of  examples  from  the  thought  of  the  fathers  of  Com- 
munism, and  from  its  present  leaders,  complete  texts  show  both  what 
is  constant  and  what  can  change  in  Communism. 

Fourth,  a  study  designed  to  serve  those  who  must  act  is  very  different 
from  a  study  designed  for  cogitation  only.  The  latter  may  navigate  the 
seas  of  theory  on  a  historical  or  philosophic  level.  The  former  should 
show  not  only  the  theory  that  guides  the  action  but  the  way  in  which 
the  theory  is  applied,  the  practical  fusion  of  the  theory  with  the  facts  of 
a  situation,  from  which  is  derived  tactics.  For  it  is  tactics  that  must  be 
met,  and  the  tactics  of  Communism  must  be  one  basis  in  the  design  of  our 
own  tactics  if  ours  are  to  be  relevant. 

The  problem  of  what  is  constant  and  what  is  changeable  in  Com- 
munism is  one  of  the  greatest  problems  we  have  faced.  It  is  one  object  of 
this  new  compilation  of  Communist  writings  to  show  that  this  problem 
can  be  solved.  It  is  theory,  the  general  plan,  that  is  constant,  and  only 
tactics  that  change.  This  collection  deals  with  it  in  terms  of  words  only, 
but  the  words  themselves  declare  that  their  theory  is  constant  and  that 
only  their  tactics  change  and  the  most  recent  of  their  words  do  this  most 
strongly. 

They  insist  upon  violent  struggle  today  as  Marx  and  Engels  did  a 
century  ago.  And  they  bring  to  the  present  phase  of  struggle  all  the  care- 
fully garnered  fruits  of  a  century  of  intense  thought  and  of  most  prac- 
tical experience.  Experience  is  coming  to  us  with  a  rush  as  we  face  the 
consequences  of  victory,  and  demands  for  action  press  upon  us.  Insofar 
as  we  have  misinterpreted  Communism  in  the  past,  we  have  wasted  some 
of  our  thinking ;  and  insofar  as  we  have  wasted  thought,  we  have  a  deficit 
to  catch  up. 

At  Page  17  of  this  Report  on  the  Strategy  and  Tactics  of  World 
Communism  several  tentative  conclusions  were  stated,  as  follows : 

1.  The  Communists  have  one  goal :  World  revolution. 

2.  They  assume  that  the  revolution  will  be  violent. 

3.  They  are  incapable  of  accepting  the  idea  that  peace  can 
endure  from  now  on,  and  they  expect  one  more  catastrophic  war. 

4.  The  Soviet  Union  is  regarded  as  the  main  force  of  the  revo- 
lution. 

5.  They  fear  a  coalition  against  the  Soviet  Union. 


80  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

6.  They  therefore  fear  reconstruction  or  federation  in  the  non- 
Communist  world. 

7.  They  utilize  the  most  modern  and  effective  means  of  cold 
warfare  to  strengthen  their  own  forces  and  to  weaken  all  others. 

8.  The  Communist  parties  outside  the  Soviet  are  junior  partners 
or  auxiliaries. 

9.  The  tactics  are  based  upon  a  definite  theory,  and  the  central 
propositions  of  their  theory  do  not  change. 

10.  The  division  of  Europe  and  Asia  between  the  victors  of 
World  War  II  is  to  be  settled  by  power  politics  and  not  by  nego- 
tiation. 

Insofar  as  these  propositions  can  be  proved  by  words  written  by 
Communists,  the  proof  beyond  that  already  cited,  can  be  found  in  the 
following  listed  Communist  documents. 

COMPLETE  TEXTS  AVAILABLE  IN  SUPPLEMENT  I 

1.  The  Communist  Manifesto,  by  Karl  Marx  and  Friedrich  Engels,  Feb- 

ruary 1848,  with  Engels'  Preface  of  18S8 1 

2.  The  United  States  of  Europe  Slogan,  by  Lenin,  August  23,  1915 27 

3.  Theses  on  the  Conclusion  of  a  Separate  Peace,  by  Lenin,  January  20, 

1918 30 

4.  "Left-wing"  Communism,  an  Infantile  Disorder,  by  Lenin,  April  27, 

1920    (selections)    34 

5.  The  Tasks  of  the  Youth  Leagues,  by  Lenin,  October  20,  1920 65 

6.  The  Foundations  of  Leninism,  by  Stalin,  April  1924  (selections) 70 

7.  Interview  With  the  First  American  Labor  Delegation,  by  Stalin,  Sep- 

tember 9,  1927   (excerpt)    120 

8.  The  Programme  of  the  Communist  International,  September  1,  1928 

(selections)    121 

9.  The  American   Communist  Party,   by   Stalin,  May  6,  1929    (excerpt 

from  speech  before  the  American  Commission  of  the  Presidium  of 

the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  International) 140 

10.  The  Capitalist  Crisis,  by  Stalin,  July  27,  1930  (excerpt  from  Report 

of  the  Central  Committee  to  the  Sixteenth  Congress  of  the  Com- 
munist Party  of  the  Soviet  Union) 141 

11.  Letter  to  Comrade  Ivanov,  by  Stalin,  February  12,  1938   (with  the 

letter    to    Stalin    from    Comrade    Ivanov    posing    questions    about 
"socialism  in  one  country")   148 

12.  Some  Questions  of  Theory,  by  Stalin,  March  10,  1939   (excerpt  from 

Report  on  the  Work  of  the  Central  Committee  to  the  Eighteenth 
Congress  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union) 152 

13.  The  Meaning  of  the  Soviet-German  Non-Aggression  Pact,  by  Molotov, 

August  31,  1939 157 

14.  The  Dissolution  of  the  Comintern,  May  22,  1943 165 

15.  Speech,  by  Stalin,  February  9,  1946 168 

16.  On  Cultural  Policy,  by  Zhdanov,  August  1946  (excerpt) 178 

17.  Plays,  the  Theatre,  and  Life,  by  Simonov,  November  23,  1946  (publi- 

cation date)    (excerpt)    181 

18.  Message  to  Moscow,  by  Stalin,  September  10,  1947 183 

19.  Speech  on  Warmongers,  by  Vishinsky,  September  18,  1947 184 

20.  Establishment  of  the  Cominform,  October  5,  1947  (publication  date)  207 

21.  The  International   Situation,  by  Zhdanov,  October  22,  1947    (publi- 

cation date)   211 

22.  Thirtieth  Anniversary  of  the  Revolution,  by  Molotov,  November  6, 

1947    (excerpts)    230 

The  magazine,  Sovietskaya  Kniga  (Soviet  Book),  on  October  1, 
1947,  published  some  statistics  on  past  publications  within  the  Soviet 
Union,  including  some  data  on  items  included  in  this  supplement. 

The  Communist  Manifesto  has  been  published  in  196  editions,  total- 
ing 6,036,000  copies,  in  50  languages.  This  is  not  counting  29  editions 


UN-AMERIUAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  81 

between  1917  and  1924  for  which  the  numbers  are  unknown.  (All  within 
the  Soviet  Union.) 

Lenin's  Left-Wing  Communism  has  gone  through  74  editions  and 
1,885,000  copies,  in  30  languages. 

Stalin's  Foundations  of  Leninism  has  had  99  editions  and  2,598,000 
copies,  in  47  languages. 

Stalin's  Letter  to  Comrade  Ivanov  has  had  90  editions  and  8,567,000 
copies  in  47  languages. 

Stalin's  Report  to  the  Eighteenth  Party  Congress,  111  editions, 
22,695,000  copies,  in  68  languages. 

Stalin's  Speech,  February  9,  1946,  246  editions,  16,574,000  copies, 
in  57  languages. 

Official  United  States  Protests 

Supplement  II  to  the  report  on  The  Strategy  and  Tactics  of  World 
Communism  is  a  compilation  of  United  States  protests  against  the  actions 
of  Communist-controlled  governments.  It  covers  30  months,  from  July 
1945  to  December  1947.  These  30  months  cover  the  period  from  the  Pots- 
dam Conference  to  the  meeting  of  the  Council  of  Foreign  Ministers  in 
London.  This  is  the  period  of  the  transition  from  apparent  loyalty  and 
friendship  between  the  wartime  Allies  to  the  present  disturbed  condition. 

The  collection  is  not  intended  as  a  definitive  work  on  diplomatic 
history.  Only  those  protests  by  the  United  States  that  have  been  made 
public  are  included. 

The  assemblage  of  these  protests  in  one  place,  so  that  they  can  be 
readily  examined  all  together,  is  meant  to  facilitate  consideration  of  the 
range  of  subjects  that  have  become  bones  of  contention,  of  the  tactics  of 
Communists  that  have  caused  us  to  protest,  and  of  the  areas  in  terms 
of  geography  and  the  span  in  time  in  which  such  Communist  activities 
have  occurred. 

reference  list  of  protests 

Each  of  the  numbered  items  in  the  collection  deals  with  a  single 
incident  or  subject.  In  some  cases  two  deal  with  the  same  subject,  but 
at  different  times.  Several  documents  may  be  included  in  a  single  num- 
bered item,  as  in  cases  where  both  the  United  States  protest  and  the 
reply  are  given. 

The  arrangement  is  by  countries,  with  the  countries  listed  in  alpha- 
betical order.  Under  each  country  the  order  is  chronological. 

Albania 

1.  American  Mission  to  Albania  Withdrawn  (November  5,  1946) 1 

Bulgaria 

2.  Regarding  Conclusion  of  Peace  Treaty  with  Recognized  Democratic 

Government  of  Bulgaria  (August  18,  1945) 2 

3.  Bulgarian  Elections   (November  16,  1945)   2 

4.  United   States   Urges   Inclusion   of  Opposition   Parties   in   Bulgarian 

Government  (February  22,  1946) 3 

5.  Reply  to  Soviet  Inquiry  on  U.  S.  Aide-Menu A re  to  Bulgaria    (March 

10,  1946)   4 

6.  United  States  Efforts  to  Secure  Free  Elections  in  Bulgaria  (September 

24,  1946)    5 

7.  Views  Expressed  on  Arrest  of  Bulgarian  Opposition    Leader    (August 

23,  1947)    9 

8.  Execution  of  Nikola  Petkov  Declared  Travesty  on  .Justice   (September 

23,  1947)    10 


82 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 


China 

9.  Industrial  Enterprises  in  Manchuria   (February  9,  1946) 12 

10.  United  States  Position  on  Control  of  Dairen  (January  3,  1947) 13 

Hungary 

11.  United  States  Requests  Action  to  Halt  Hungarian  Economic  Disinte- 

gration  (July  23,  1946)   14 

12.  Economic  Situation  in  Hungary  (September  21,  1946) 21 

13.  United  States  Opposes  Intervention  in  Hungary  by  Soviet  High  Com- 

mand  (March,  1947)   23 

14.  United   States  Reiterates  Position  on   Soviet  Activities  in  Hungary 

(March  17,  1947)    25 

15.  Protest  of  Arrest  of  Hungarian  Smallholders  Party  Leader  (June  11, 

1947) 27 

16.  American  Citizen  Arrested  in  Hungary  on  Charge  of  "Anti-Democratic 

Utterances"   (August  4,  1947) 29 

Iran 

17.  American    Proposal    to    Withdraw    All    Foreign    Troops    from    Iran 

(November  24,  1945)    32 

18.  United  States  Position  on  Soviet  Troops  in  Iran  (March  6,  1946)   __       34 

19.  Soviet-Iranian    Matter    for    Security    Council    Agenda     (March    20, 

1946)     35 

Korea 

20.  Exchange  of  Letters  between  Lt.  Gen.  John  R.  Hodge,  Commanding 

General,  United  States  Army  Forces  in  South  Korea,  and  Guard 
Col.  Gen.  I.  M.  Chistiakov,  Commanding  General,  Soviet  Forces  in 
North  Korea  (May  9,  1946-February  28,  1947) 36 

21.  Exchange  of  Notes  Between  the  Secretary  of  State  and  the  Soviet 

Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  (April  8,  1947-May  12,  1947) 46 

22.  United  States  Holds  Korean  Independence  a  United  Nations  Problem 

(October  18,  1947) 60 

Poland 

23.  Views  on  Arrangements  for  Polish  Elections  (August  19.  1946) 62 

24.  United  States  Position  on  Polish  Nationalization  Developments  (Octo- 

ber 30,  1946)  64 

25.  United  States  Position  on  Polish  Elections  (November  22,  1946) 66 

26.  United  States  Position  on  Polish  Elections  (January,  1947) 67 

27.  United  States  Position  on  Conduct  of  Recent  Polish  Election  (January 

28,  1947)    71 

28.  Poland  Opposes  Industrial  Plan  for  Germany  on  Grounds  of  "Uni- 

lateral Action"  (September  14,  1947) 74 

Rumania 

29.  Recognition  of  Rumania  Government  (February  5,  1946) 77 

30.  Protest  to  Rumania  Against  Nonfulfilment  of  Assurances  to  Tripartite 

Commission   (May  27,  1946)   78 

31.  Further  Protests  to  Rumania  on  Election  Matters  (June  14,  1946)  __  81 

32.  Electoral  Preparations  in  Rumania  (October  28,  1946) 83 

33.  United  States  Reiterates  Position  on  Rumanian  Elections  (November 

15,  1946)    84 

34.  Concern  Over  Drastic  Deprivation  of  Civil  Liberties  in  Rumania  (June 

24,  1947)    84 

35.  Concern  Continues  Over  Suppression  of  Civil  Liberties  in  Rumania 

(August  5,  1947)  85 

36.  Answer  to  Charges  That  Americans  Were  Implicated  in  Conspiracy 

Against  Rumanian  Government  (November  14,  1947) 87 

Union  of  Soviet  Socialist  Republics 

37.  Soviet  Press  Charged  with  "Libelous  Attack"  on  the  President  (Sep- 

tember 25,  1947) S8 

Turkey 

38.  Relating  to  the  Problem  of  the  Turkish  Straits.  Exchange  of  Notes 

(August-October  1946)   90 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  83 

Yugoslavia 

39.  Recognition  of  New  Yugoslav  Regime  (December  22,  1945) 94 

40.  United  States  Note  on  the  Capture  of  General  Mikhailovich   (March 

30,  1946)   95 

41.  Request  to  Yugoslavia  for  Submitting  Testimony  in  Trial  of  General 

Mikhailovich   (May  7,  1946)   98 

42.  Protest  Against  Yugoslav  Obstruction  to  Allied  Military  Government 

(May  20,  1946)    99 

43.  Protest  Against  Entry  of  Yugoslav  Forces  into  Zone  A   (August  15, 

1946)    102 

44.  Protest  Against  Yugoslav  Attack  on  American  Plane  and  Detention  of 

American  Personnel  (August  20,  1946) 103 

45.  Reply  to  Yugoslav  Note  Alleging  Improper  Treatment  of  Yugoslavs 

in  Venezia  Giulia  (September  17,  1946) 115 

46.  Further  Protest  to  Yugoslavia  Against  Disregard  for  Allied  Military 

Regulations  in  Zone  A  (September  27,  1946) 118 

47.  United  States  Condemns  Yugoslav  Use  of  Americans  for  Slave  Labor 

(October  18,  1946) 120 

48.  Denial  of  Misconduct  by  United  States  Military  Forces  in  Yugoslavia 

(September  23,  1947)   124 

49.  Reconsideration  Requested  in  Case  of  American  Journalists  Expelled 

from  Yugoslavia  (November  2,  1947) 128 

Since  the  compilation  of  this  list,  Communism 's  brutal,  totalitarian 
aggression  and  inhumane  persecution  of  dissenting  individuals  has  con- 
tinued apace,  followed  by  numerous  protests  by  the  United  States  and 
other  freedom-loving  nations. 

The  roll  call  of  brutality  and  oppression  includes  the  persecutions 
and  mock  trials  of  Cardinal  Joseph  Mindszenty  and  other  Catholics  in 
Hungary,  of  Protestant  ministers  in  Bulgaria,  of  Jews,  Protestants  and 
Catholics  in  Czechoslovakia,  in  the  wake  of  a  Communist  coup  in  that 
unhappy  nation.  Each  week's  news  stories  bring  to  an  incredulous 
world  new  evidence  of  inhumane  Communist  brutali-ty  and  dictatorship. 

(See  also,  Communist  Anti-Semitism,  on  Pages  551-552.) 


"The  American  Soviet  government  will  be  organized  along  the  broad  lines 
of  the  Russian  Soviets.  *  *  *  The  American  Soviet  government  will  join  with 
the  other  Soviet  governments  in  a  world  Soviet  Union." 

WILLIAM  Z.  FOSTER,  Chairman,  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A. 


THE  DOMESTIC  SITUATION 

The  first  section  of  Part  One  of  this  report  is  an  analysis  of  the  broad 
world  problems  facing  all  Americans,  that  have  been  imposed  by  the 
march  of  conquest  of  the  Communist  world  revolution  under  the  dicta- 
torial and  totalitarian  control  of  the  Kremlin  Communist  leadership 
toward  their  self -proclaimed  goal  of  world  revolution. 

This  second  section  of  Part  One  deals  with  the  identical  issues  and 
phases  of  this  Communist  conspiracy  in  the  United  States,  and  particu- 
larly in  California. 

Your  committee  has  attempted  to  deal  with  the  situation  in  the  same 
broad  manner  in  which  The  World  Situation  was  discussed,  so  we  could 
provide  the  Legislature  and  the  people  of  California  with  indispensable 
material  they  must  have  to  meet  the  danger  of  Communism  with  intelli- 
gent legislation,  investigation,  legal  prosecution  and  community  action 
to  protect  and  preserve  our  institutions. 

In  the  following  sections  of  Part  One  of  this  report,  the  committee 
has  provided  documentary  proof  and  analysis  of  the  basic  facts  that  must 
be  faced  squarely  that  the  Communist  Party,  V.  S.  A.,  is  an  agent  of  a 
foreign  power  and  an  advocate  of  overthrow  of  government  by  force  and 
violence. 

Additional  sections  are  provided  also  for  Citations  of  Communist 
Fronts  by  Official  Agencies,  Citations  of  Communist  Publications  by 
Official  Agencies,  and  valuable  information  from  the  first  Joint  Confer- 
ence of  State  Committees  on  Un-American  Activities,  held  in  Los  Angeles, 
September  20-21,  1948,  which  is  included  in  Part  Two. 

All  of  these  following  sections  of  Part  One  of  this  report  provide 
invaluable  and  indispensable  reference  material  to  be  used  in  conjunction 
with  this  brief  report  on  the  Communist  menace  in  America. 

Your  committee  realizes  with  heartfelt  relief  that  niairy  Americans 
are  awakening  to  the  true  horror  of  Communism  as  a  result  of  the  foreign 
affairs  developments  cited  in  the  first  section  of  this  report. 

But  the  committee  is  well  aware  that  with  few  exceptions,  the  major- 
ity of  Americans  do  not  understand  Communism  and  are  unwilling  or 
unable  to  take  the  time  to  study  its  twists  and  turns  of  intrigue  or  do  not 
know  where  to  get  reliable  information. 

We  therefore  publish  herewith,  a  revised,  edited  and  amended  text 
of  our  analysis  of  the  Seven  Basic  Periods  of  the  Communist  conspiracy, 

(84) 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  85 

taken  from  the  texts  of  our  1943, 1945  and  1947  reports,  which  accurately 
analyzed  and  correctly  predicted  every  major  Communist  aggression, 
every  major  twist  and  turn  of  strategy  and  many  variations  in  the  Marx- 
ist art  of  treachery  and  treason. 

Here,  in  plain  English,  is  the  simple,  factual  story  of  the  tricks  and 
twists  of  Communist  strategy,  as  they  have  taken  place,  and  as  they  are 
carefully  documented  in  copious  detail  in  the  committee 's  files,  much  of 
which  has  been  published  and  documented  in  our  four  preceding  reports 
to  the  Legislature  and  to  the  people  of  California. 

This  brief,  plainspoken  analysis  provides  a  ready  guide  through  the 
maze  of  Marxist -Leninist-Stalinist  direct  quotations  which  the  commit- 
tee presents  in  the  immediately  following  sections  of  this  report  to  give 
the  Legislature  and  the  people  the  proof  in  incontrovertible  form  that 
will  stand  up  in  any  court,  from  a  bar  of  justice  in  free  America  to  the 
court  of  public  opinion — and  even  before  any  qualified  court  of  inter- 
national justice — to  prove  conclusively  that  the  Communism  of  Marx, 
Engels,  Lenin  and  Stalin  is  a  self-proclaimed,  murderous,  bloody  con- 
spiracy to  overthrow  every  government  in  the  world  by  force  and  vio- 
lence and  to  murder  freedom  and  liberty  everywhere  by  a  proletarian 
dictatorship. 

I.  Six  Periods  of  Communist  Strategy  in  the  United  States 

The  average  man  cannot  be  blamed  for  being  confused  by  the  Com- 
munist conspiracy  in  America.  Distorted  news  items  and  tricky  edito- 
rials scattered  through  Communist  Party  organs  and  the  periodicals  of 
front  organizations  have  carefully  smudged  and  obscured  the  real  objec- 
tives of  these  conspirators.  This  program  of  deceit  and  hypocrisy  is  part 
and  parcel  of  Communist  Party  tactics. 

The  greater  part  of  the  Communist  press  is  disguised,  and  for  public 
consumption  it  purports  to  be  anything  but  what  it  really  is. 

Front  organizations,  periodicals  and  magazines  do  most  of  the 
Trojan  Horse  work.  Like  its  cowardly  members,  hiding  their  Communist 
Party  affiliations  under  fictitious  names,  many  of  these  disguised  Com- 
munist periodicals  and  magazines  find  their  way  into  the  homes  of  unsus- 
pecting and  ordinarily  patriotic  Americans.  There  is  little  wonder  that 
the  average  citizen  is  confused. 

Although  it  is  termed  the  Third  or  Communist  International,  the 
Communist  International  has  never  been  international  in  the  generally 
accepted  sense  of  the  term.  The  Bolshevik  revolution,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Lenin  and  Trotsky,  which  overthrew  the  republican  government, 
culminated  in  what  is  known  as  the  Communist  International  (also 
known  as  the  Comintern).  It  was  founded  in  the  Kremlin  in  Moscow  in 
March  of  1919  by  35  delegates  and  15  guests. 

It  is  significant,  in  considering  the  international  aspects  of  the 
so-called  Communist  International,  that  all  but  one  of  the  founders  were 
Russian.  From  its  beginning  up  to  the  present  time  it  has  been  charac- 
terized by  a  greedy  and  stubborn  nationalism. 

The  Communist  parties  that  later  developed  in  the  other  countries 
of  the  world,  including  the  United  States,  have,  in  fact,  only  been  branch 
parties  of  the  Russian  Home  Office  of  the  Comintern  and  these  parties 
scattered  throughout  the  world  reflect  in  every  instance,  from  the  very 
beginning  down  to  the  present  time,  the  foreign  policy  and  the  interest 


Ob  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

of  Soviet  Russia,  and  the  Communist  goal  of  world  revolution.  Thus  it 
is,  that  the  policies,  purges,  leadership  and  the  ' '  party  line ' '  of  the  Com- 
munist Party  in  the  United  States  have  always  turned  on  Soviet  events, 
ambitions  and  needs. 

To  understand  clearly  so-called  American  Communism,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  examine  its  history  since  its  inception  in  Chicago  in  1919.  This 
can  be  done  intelligently  only  by  a  parallel  examination  of  the  history 
of  the  Soviet  Union  for  the  same  period. 

Eugene  Lyons  has  roughly  divided  Communist  development  in  the 
United  States  into  Five  Ages,  each  period  turning  on  events  in  Soviet 
Russia  and  reflecting  in  each  period  the  needs,  ambition  and  foreign  pol- 
icy— not  of  the  United  States,  its  workers  or  its  people — but  of  Soviet 
Russia.  To  the  Five  Ages  cited  by  Eugene  Lyons,  your  committee  had 
added  a  Sixth,  and  prognosticated  a  Seventh.  In  order  better  to  clarify 
the  findings  of  your  committee  in  the  field  of  Communism,  we  briefly  out- 
line these  six  periods  of  Communist  conspiracy  in  the  United  States. 

First  Period  (1919  to  1921) 

The  Bolshevik  Government  found  its  territory  invaded  and  besieged 
by  foreign  armies  and  effectually  blockaded  in  1919.  It  needed  a  militant 
internationalism  in  non-Bolshevik  countries  to  break  the  strangle  hold 
of  the  economic  blockade  and  it  sorely  needed  a  pro-Bolshevik  sentiment 
in  non-Bolshevik  countries  to  bring  about  the  withdrawal  of  the  armies 
that  were  invading  its  boundaries. 

Consequently,  the  Communist  parties  throughout  the  world  were 
ordered  to  be  militantly  revolutionary  and  to  work  in  their  respective 
countries  for  the  saving  of  the  Soviet  Union. 

In  the  United  States,  the  Communist  Party,  emerging  from  its  Chi- 
cago convention  in  1919,  was  fanatically  revolutionary  and  conspirato- 
rial and  openly  rebellious,  calling  for  the  immediate  overthrow  by  force 
and  violence  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat.  It  likewise  propagandized  for 
the  Soviet  Union  and  attempted  to  create  pro-Bolshevik  sympathies  in 
America. 

Second  Period  (1921  to  1928) 

This  period  saw  the  launching  of  the  so-called  New  Economic 
Policy  (NEP)  in  Russia.  The  new  economic  policy  was,  in  fact,  a 
compromise  between  state  and  private  economy. 

The  Soviet  Union  found  itself  in  many  economic  difficulties  and 
began  to  feel  the  need  for  exchange  and  traffic  with  other  governments. 
To  effectuate  this  it  created  the  fiction  of  a  separation  between  the 
Soviet  Government  and  the  Communist  Party  of  Russia.  This  fiction 
was  carried  further  by  apparently  effecting  a  separation  between  the 
Communist  International  and  the  Russian  Communist  Party.  These 
fictions,  it  was  believed,  would  soften  the  attitude  of  capitalistic  gov- 
ernments and  permit  the  Soviet  Union  to  deal  with  them. 

As  a  result  of  this  desperate  need  for  exchange  and  traffic  with 
other  governments,  the  Communist  Parties  scattered  throughout  the 
world  were  ordered  to  retreat  from  their  plotting  and  to  soft-pedal  their 
demand  for  open  revolt  and  to  do  their  propagandizing  within  the  laws 
of  their  respective  countries. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  87 

A  lull  in  the  world-wide  revolutionary  propaganda  ensued  and  the 
comrades  in  the  United  States  busied  themselves  with  trapping  and 
exploiting  sympathetic  liberals  and  progressives  and  in  creating  friends 
for  Soviet  Russia.  The  key  phrases  of  this  period  were  "United  Front" 
and  "Boring  from  Within." 

Third  Period  (1928  to  1935) 

This  period  saw  the  launching  of  the  first  Five  Year  Plan  in  Russia 
and  the  exiling  of  the  so-called  Communist  Party  "leftist,"  Leon 
Trotsky.  The  New  Economic  Policy,  was  violently  wiped  out. 

Private  farming  came  to  an  end  and  the  forcible  socializiation  of 
farming  began.  The  most  brutal  "speed-up"  in  the  world's  history 
began  in  Russian  industry.  Soviet  Russia  more  and  more  turned  to 
greedy  nationalism.  Workers'  control  in  industry  was  completely 
abolished  and  Soviet  Bureaucracy  took  over.  History  will  undoubtedly 
reveal  that  the  Fascization  of  Soviet  Russia  began  in  this  era. 

Purges  and  official  mass  murders  terrorized  the  entire  country. 
The  old  Bolsheviks  and  the  heroes  of  the  revolution  were  slaughtered 
without  compunction,  sympathy  or  trial.  Soviet  Russia  began  to  look 
for  military  alliances  and  started  to  woo  Germany  and  Italy. 

A  new  revolutionary  upsurge  was  ordained  for  the  Communist 
Parties  in  the  United  States  and  throughout  the  world — a  new  revolu- 
tionary upsurge,  not  so  much  against  capitalism,  hut  more  against  social- 
ists, conservative  labor  leaders  and  trade  unionists,  liberals  and  pro- 
gressives— all  lumped  in  one  terrible  category — "Social  Fascists." 

This  period  of  Soviet  need  and  ambition  undoubtedly  cleared  the 
way  for  Hitler  and  Mussolini. 

Fourth  Period  (1935  to  1939) 

Soviet  Russia's  unsuccessful  wooing  of  Hitler  and  Mussolini  led 
to  the  change  of  policy  introduced  to  the  world  in  1935.  The  Seventh 
World  Congress,  held  in  Moscow  in  1935,  gave  birth  to  the  new  Trojan 
Horse  policy  of  Dimitrov  and  the  subsequent  creation  of  "Peoples" 
and  "Popular"  fronts. 

The  fear  of  a  German  and  Japanese  invasion  of  Soviet  Russia  gave 
rise  to  a  "collective  security"  policy  and  the  Communist  Parties  in  the 
United  States  and  throughout  the  world  were  ordered  to  carry  these 
new  policies  into  effect. 

Despairing  of  any  alliance  with  Germany  or  Italy,  Soviet  Russia 
decided  to  appear  to  be  "democratic"  and  "anti-Fascist"  and  ordered 
the  branches  of  the  party  throughout  the  world  to  propagandize  and 
advertise  Soviet  Russia  on  this  basis. 

The  Communist  Party  in  the  United  States  became  "Twentieth 
Century  Americanism" — the  real  "friend"  of  democracy  and  the 
self -proclaimed  "guardian"  of  freedom  and  civil  liberty.  The  Com- 
munist Party  of  the  United  States  went  to  great  lengths  to  advertise 
Soviet  Russia  in  this  new  "democratic"  light. 

Soviet  Russia,  meanwhile,  subscribed  to  the  Kellogg  Pact  and  made 
nonaggression  pacts  with  her  neighbors.  Although  Lenin  had  called 
the  League  of  Nations  the  "League  of  Robber  Nations,"  Stalin  now 
entered  the  league.  A  broad  new  constitution  for  the  Soviet  Union 
was  drawn  but  never  put  into  effect  and  a  short  time  later  Stalin 


88  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

physically  liquidated  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  the  committee  who 
drew  the  constitution.  The  threat  of  world-wide  Communist  revolution 
was  laughed  away  and  Stalin  later  lightly  described  it  all  as  a  "comic 
misunderstanding. ' ' 

Anti-Nazi  leagues  flourished  in  the  United  States  and  in  California 
the  Anti-Nazi  League  of  Hollywood  grew  to  considerable  proportions. 
The  comrades  in  America  and  California  exploited  to  the  fullest  the 
growing  horror  in  the  minds  of  all  Americans  of  the  brutality  rampant 
in  Hitler's  Third  Reich.  The  ruthless  and  barbarous  persecution  of  the 
Jews  by  Hitler  and  his  bloody  minions,  the  unspeakable  and  unbelievable 
tortures  inflicted  on  the  innocent  scapegoats  of  "Fuehrer  Aryanism," 
stirred  up  a  righteous  indignation  in  the  hearts  of  every  liberty-loving 
American  citizen. 

V.  J.  Jerome  (whose  true  name  is  Isaac  Romaine),  and  now  a  key 
U.  S.  Red,  personally  supervised  the  organization  of  the  Hollywood 
Anti-Nazi  League.  Jerome  had  been  sent  to  Hollywood  some  time 
before  by  the  Communist  Party  Central  Committee  to  take  over  the 
duties  of  Stanley  Lawrence  in  "improving  cultural  work"  in  Cali- 
fornia. 

It  was  V.  J.  Jerome  who  brought  John  Howard  Lawson  to  Holly- 
wood. He  was  a  member  of  the  Central  Committee  of  the  Communist 
Party  of  the  United  States  and  co-editor  of  its  magazine,  The  Communist, 
now  known  as  Political  Affairs,  (See  Plate  No.  1,  Page  189),  as  well 
as  being  chairman  of  the  Cultural  Commission  of  the  Communist  Party 
of  the  United  States  The  Anti-Nazi  League  banked  some  $89,892.51 
between  May  14,  1935,  and  August  16,  1939. 

In  spite  of  this  exploitation  by  the  Communist  Party  of  the  emo- 
tional upsurge  against  Hitler  and  his  regime,  the  American  Communist 
regarded  the  war  in  Europe  as  purely  an  imperialistic  struggle. 

The  party  line  during  this  period  was  to  heap  abuse  and  vilification 
upon — not  only  Nazi  Germany  and  its  Axis  partners — but  also  upon 
the  victims  of  their  aggression.  Some  30  days  before  the  amazing  and 
abrupt  termination  of  this  fourth  period  of  Communist  strategy,  Foreign 
Commissar  V.  M.  Molotov  stated  : 

*  *  *  there  is  nothing  surprising  in  the  fact  that  at  the  end  of  April  the  head  of 
the  German  State  in  one  speech  scrapped  two  important  international  treaties — the 
naval  agreement  with  Great  Britain  and  the  non-aggression  pact  between  Germany 
and  Poland.  There  was  a  time  when  great  international  significance  was  attached  to 
these  treaties.  But  Germany  made  short  work  of  them,  disregarding  all  formalities. 
Such  was  Germany's  reply  to  the  proposal  of  Mr.  Roosevelt,  President  of  the  United 
States — a  proposal  permeated  with  the  peace-loving  spirit.  (Soviet  Union  and  the  Peace 
Front,  by  V.  M.  Molotov,  International  Publishers,  Inc.,  p.  5.) 

Fifth  Period  (1939  to  June  22,  1941) 
The  Soviet  Union  amazed  the  world  and  many  of  its  deluded  Com- 
munist members  in  the  United  States,  by  signing  a  pact  with  Nazi  Ger- 
many, August  23,  1939,  which  made  it  possible  for  Hitler  to  launch 
World  War  II ;  and  it  then  joined  the  Nazis  in  the  rape  of  Poland. 

The  Comintern  immediately  ordered  its  parties  in  the  United  States 
and  throughout  the  world  to  renew  their  revolutionary  character.  "Col- 
lective Security"  was  immediately  scuttled  and  the  Communist  parties 
everywhere  became  isolationists  and  belabored  Great  Britain  and  the 
"British  Imperialist  War." 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  89 

In  the  United  States,  the  Communists  launched  the  slogan,  ''The 
Yanks  Are  Not  Coming, ' '  and  attacked  President  Roosevelt  viciously  as 
a  "warmonger."  Strikes  in  war  and  defense  industries  were  fomented 
and  viciously  carried  on  by  Communists  throughout  the  United  States. 

Meanwhile,  Soviet  Russia  attacked  Finland  and  partitioned  Poland 
with  her  Nazi  comrade-in-arms.  Nazi  Bundsters  and  American  Commu- 
nists joined  hands  in  sabotaging  United  States  aid  to  Great  Britain. 
Members  of  both  organizations  began  a  penetration  of  the  America  First 
Committee.  Conscription  and  lend-lease  proposals  were  viciously  and 
bitterly  opposed. 

Anti-Nazi  leagues  in  America  were  quickly  abandoned  for  American 
Peace  Mobilization  fronts  and  new  name-calling,  including ' '  warmonger ' ' 
and  ' '  imperialist, ' '  was  shouted  at  anyone  who  criticized  Nazi  brutality 
and  aggression. 

The  fifth  period  of  Communist  development  in  the  United  States 
will  always  oe  remembered  for  its  sharp  curve  in  1939  with  the  signing 
of  the  Nazi-Soviet  Pact  and  its  breath-taking  flip-flop  June  22, 1941  when 
Hitler's  hordes  swept  into  the  Ukraine. 

About  a  week  after  the  signing  of  the  Stalin-Hitler  nonaggression 
pact,  Foreign  Commissar  Molotov  wrote  in  The  Meaning  of  the  Soviet- 
German  Non-Aggression  Pact,  Workers '  Library  Publishers,  August  31, 
1939,  page  3: 

*  *  *  the  conclusion  of  a  pact  of  nonaggression  between  the  U.  S.  S.  R.  and 
Germany  is  of  tremendous  positive  value,  eliminating  the  danger  of  war  between 
Germany  and  the  Soviet  Union. 

Commissar  Molotov  continued  in  the  same  article  (page  8)  : 
As  you  see,  Stalin  hit  the  nail  on  the  head  when  he  exposed  the  machinations  of 
the  Western  Europe  politicians  who  were  trying  to  set  Germany  and  the  Soviet 
Union  at  loggerheads.  It  must  be  confessed  that  there  were  some  short-sighted  people 
in  our  own  country  who,  carried  away  by  over-simplified  anti-Fascist  propaganda, 
forgot  about  this  provocative  work  of  our  enemies.  Mindful  of  this,  Stalin  even  then 
suggested  the  possibility  of  other  imhostile,  good-neighborly  relations  between  Ger- 
many and  the  U.  S.  S.  R.  It  can  now  be  seen  that  on  the  whole  Germany  correctly 
understood  these  statements  of  Stalin  and  drew  practical  conclusions  from  them.  The 
conclusion  of  the  Soviet-German  Non-Aggression  Pact  shows  that  Stalin's  historic 
pre-vision  has  been  brilliantly  confirmed. 

In  Molotov 's  Report  to  the  Supreme  Soviet,  October  31,  1939, 
Workers '  Library  Publishers,  Inc.,  page  5,  the  foreign  commissar  further 
solidified  Soviet  Russia's  new  policy  toward  Germany,  in  the  following 
language : 

*  *  *  Germany  is  in  a  position  of  a  state  which  is  striving  for  the  earliest 
termination  of  war  and  for  peace,  while  Britain  and  France,  which  only  yesterday 
were  declaiming  against  aggression,  are  in  favor  of  continuing  the  war  and  are  opposed 
to  the  conclusion  of  peace.  The  roles,  as  you  see,  are  changing. 

And  further  in  the  same  report,  page  8,  Molotov  continues : 
The  relations  between  Germany  and  the  other  Western  European  bourgeois  states 
have  in  the  past  two  decades  been  determined  primarily  by  Germany's  efforts  to  break 
the  fetters  of  the  Versailles  Treaty,  whoso  authors  were  Great  Britain  and  France, 
with  the  active  collaboration  of  the  United  States.  This,  in  the  long  run,  led  to  the 
present  war  in  Europe  *  *  *.  The  relations  between  the  Soviet  Union  and  Germany 
have  been  based  on  a  different  foundation,  which  involved  no  interest  whatever  in 
perpetuating  the  post-war  Versailles  system.  We  have  always  held  that  a  strong  Ger- 
many is  an  indispensable  condition  for  a  durable  peace  in  Europe. 


90  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

On  page  23  of  his  Report  to  the  Supreme  Soviet,  Foreign  Commissar 
Molotov  asks  some  questions  about  the  United  States : 

In  any  event,  our  country,  as  a  neutral  country,  which  is  not  interested  in  the 
spread  of  war,  will  take  every  measure  to  render  this  war  less  devastating,  to  weaken 
it  and  hasten  its  termination  in  the  interests  of  peace.  From  this  standpoint,  the 
decision  of  the  American  Government  to  lift  the  embargo  on  the  export  of  arms  to 
belligerent  countries  raises  just  misgivings.  It  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  the  effect 
of  this  decision  will  not  be  to  weaken  the  war  and  hasten  its  termination,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  to  intensify,  aggravate  and  protract  it.  Of  course,  the  decision  may  insure 
big  profits  for  American  war  industries.  But,  one  asks,  can  this  serve  as  any  justifica- 
tion for  lifting  the  embargo  on  the  export  of  arms  from  America?  Clearly,  it  cannot. 

Thus  it  was,  in  compliance  with  Soviet  foreign  policy,  that  the  Com- 
munists in  the  United  States  and  in  California  launched  a  campaign  for 
isolation  and  nonintervention,  joining  hands  with  the  America  First 
Committee,  The  German-American  Bund  and  many  other  antiwar,  iso- 
lationist organizations. 

Harry  Bridges'  union,  the  Maritime  Federation  of  the  Pacific, 
originated  the  slogan  ' '  The  Yanks  Are  Not  Coming ! ' '  and  this  defiant 
expression  of  nonintervention  became  the  password  of  every  Communist- 
front  organization.  Labor's  Non-Partisan  League  of  California  circu- 
lated thousands  of  paper  bookmatches  bearing  this  slogan.  It  was  heard 
from  the  rostrum  of  many  Communist-front  organizations,  such  as  the 
American  Peace  Mobilization  and  American  Student  Union. 

So  that  no  doubt  be  left  in  the  minds  of  anyone,  the  Committee 
quotes  the  above-mentioned  V.  J.  Jerome,  the  American  Communist  bell- 
wether of  the  fellow-traveling  cultural  clique,  in  Social  Democracy  and 
the  War,  Workers'  Library  Publishers,  Inc.,  1940  (pages  45-46)  : 

Since  the  warmongering  campaign  opened,  innumerable  trade  unions  and  other 
mass  organizations  have  adopted  resolutions  against  this  country's  involvement. 
A.  F.  of  L.  and  C.  I.  O.  State  labor  bodies  and  city  councils,  national  unions  and 
locals,  the  unemployed,  church  bodies,  and  the  vital  youth  movement  are  saying,  with 
the  national  convention  of  the  C.  I.  O. :  Labor  wants  no  war  or  any  part  of  it.*  *  * 
The  voice  of  militant  labor  rings  forth  in  ever-swelling  volume  in  the  slogan  first 
sounded  by  the  Maritime  Federation  of  the  Pacific :  "The  Yanks  Are  Not  Coming !" 
The  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  declares :  "*  *  *  we  Communists  will 
continue  the  broadest  collaboration  with  all  elements  in  the  labor  movement  to  advance 
the  struggle  for  working  class  unity  by  educating,  rallying,  and  unifying  the  workers 
against  capitalist  reaction  and  exploitation  and  to  keep  America  out  of  the  imperialistic 
war." 

In  April  of  1941  circulars  were  widely  distributed  throughout  Cali- 
fornia, carrying  to  the  uninformed  and  the  innocent,  the  Americanized 
Communist  version  of  the  foreign  policy  of  Soviet  Russia.  Pamphlets 
demanding  and  proclaiming :  "Get  Out  and  Stay  Out  of  the  Imperialist 
War!  No  Convoys!  No  A.  E.  F.!  The  Yanks  Are  Not  Coming!  Friend- 
ship With  the  Soviet  Union!"  were  distributed  at  the  University  of 
California  at  Berkeley  and  throughout  the  State. 

The  Communist  Party  in  California,  acting  through  unions  which 
it  dominated  and  controlled,  launched  an  amazing  epidemic  of  strikes 
in  key  defense  industries  and  were  successful  in  many  cases  in  tying  up 
production  of  armament,  die-casting,  steel,  planes  and  ships,  that  later 
resulted  in  death  for  American  boys  in  World  War  II  combat. 

Communists  had  infiltrated  the  State  Relief  Administration  and  the 
Communist  front,  the  Workers  Alliance,  headed  by  the  known  Commu- 
nist, Alexander  Noral,  worked  with  reds  in  SRA  to  sabotage  and  corrupt 
the  relief  system  and  aid  to  the  unemployed. 


un-american  activities  in  california  91 

Sixth  Period  (June  22,  1941,  to  June  1945) 

The  Sixth  Period  of  Communism  in  the  United  States  began  with 
Hitler's  invasion  of  Soviet  Russia. 

The  Communist  press  in  the  United  States  up  to  this  event  was  still 
attacking  President  Roosevelt  as  a  "warmonger"  and  belaboring  the 
"British  Imperialist  War."  Strikes  all  over  the  country  were  conducted 
by  Communist  dominated  unions. 

But  with  the  startling  news  that  the  "Red  Fatherland"  had  been 
attacked  by  Hitler 's  hordes,  the  strikes  stopped  in  defense  and  war  indus- 
tries throughout  the  United  States. 

Peace  mobilization  fronts  and  leagues  evaporated  into  thin  air. ' '  All 
Out  Aid  to  Soviet  Russia,  Great  Britain  and  China"  replaced  the  former 
slogans  of  "Stop  the  British  Imperialist  War"  and  "The  Yanks  Are 
Not  Coming." 

This  latter  slogan  was  soon  considerably  amended  to  read  "The 
Yanks  Are  Not  Coming — Too  Late!" 

President  Roosevelt  became  an  overnight  hero  instead  of  being  a 
"warmonger."  Every  Communist  in  California  and  throughout  the 
United  States  became  a  chauvinistic  patriot  and  "Unity  Leagues"  of 
this  and  that  for  "Victory"  mushroomed  throughout  California  and 
the  United  States. 

Although  the  antireligious  campaign  of  Soviet  Russia  was  flourish- 
ing up  to  the  day  of  the  violation  of  the  Soviet-Nazi  Pact  and  Soviet 
Russia 's  League  of  the  Militant  Godless  was  still  vigorously  functioning, 
the  Communist  Party  of  America  began,  in  this  period,  to  extol  the 
religious  tolerance  of  Communism.  The  American  Communists  were 
ordered  to  emphasize  the  "democracy"  of  Soviet  Russia  and  its  fervent 
championship  of  civil  liberty. 

Dictator  Stalin's  "historic  pre-vision,"  as  Foreign  Commissar 
Molotov  had  hailed  it,  was  thrown  in  the  ash  can  as  Hitler's  panzer  divi- 
sions went  crashing  over  the  Soviet  frontiers  and  the  nonaggression  pact 
simultaneously.  New  slogans  and  proclamations  appeared  in  the  familiar 
mimeographed  circulars  and  booklets  of  the  Communist  Party  pam- 
phleteers as  soon  as  the  comrades  had  caught  their  breath  and  determined 
the  new  foreign  policy  of  their  "Red  Fatherland." 

On  September  16, 1941,  another  circular  appeared  at  the  University 
of  California  at  Berkeley,  this  time  urging  the  students  to:  "Unite  the 
campus  to  defeat  Hitler  and  Hitlerism!  Defend  America  by  full  and 
immediate  aid  to  Great  Britain  and  the  Soviet  Union!  Aid  China! 
Embargo  Japan!  Make  the  campus  a  fortress  of  Democracy!  For  unity 
and  victory — Join  the  American  Student  Union!" 

Your  committee  here  wishes  to  point  out  that  on  June  22, 1941,  it  was 
Russia,  and  NOT  the  United  States  that  was  invaded  by  Germany.  The 
news  of  this  event,  however,  was  attended  with  repercussions  in  the 
United  States  and  in  California  which  were  immediate  and  profound. 

A  strange  and  significant  quiet  prevailed  over  America's  leftist 
labor  front. 

Overnight  the  Imperialist  War  of  June  21,  1941,  was  changed  by 
some  strange,  international  magic,  into  a  people's  war  which  involved 
the  Soviet  Union.  The  American  Communists  would  now  send  all  the 
Yanks  they  could.  American  Communists  were  declaring  that  "Now 
*  *  *  this  is  our  war  *  *  *."  Foreign  Commissar  Molotov  now  ordained 


92  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

that  it  would  be  all  right  for  America  to  lift  the  embargo  on  arms  to  bel- 
ligerents; particularly  to  the  Soviet  Union  and  Britain. 

THE  LESSONS  OF  HISTORY 

Your  committee  wishes  to  emphasize  the  significant  lesson  to  be 
learned  from  this  period  of  Communist  strategy.  Americans  everywhere 
should  concern  themselves  seriously  with  the  changes  which  came  to  Cali- 
fornia and  the  United  States;  changes  which  effected  the  release  of 
defense  industries  from  the  strangle  hold  of  Communist  dominated 
unions,  the  sudden  change  in  propagandizing  in  our  state  educational 
institutions.  It  should  carefully  be  noted  by  all  students  of  these  matters 
that  these  changes  were  caused,  not  by  anything  happening  directly  in  or 
to  the  United  States.  Again  they  turned  on  the  need  and  foreign  policy  of 
a  foreign  government  thousands  of  miles  away. 

Your  committee  wishes  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  there  exists  in  the 
State  of  California  an  organized  group  of  subversive  individuals,  com- 
pletely dominated  by  a  foreign  power,  Soviet  Russia,  which  has  sufficient 
influence  in  our  American  labor  movement  to  launch  a  strike  epidemic  in 
our  defense  or  war  industries  when  the  purpose  suits  Soviet  Russia,  and 
to  turn  it  off  again  like  water  from  a  tap  when  the  foreign  policy  of  Soviet 
Russia  commands. 

While  the  needs  of  Soviet  Russia  dominating  this  group  in  California 
and  the  United  States  may  correspond  presently  (your  committee 
reported  in  1943)  with  our  own  needs,  it  may  well  be,  in  the  future,  that 
the  needs  of  the  dominating  force  exerted  on  these  American  subversives 
may  be  detrimental  in  the  extreme  to  our  own  needs  and  purposes. 

Your  committee  believes  that  it  is  high  time  for  the  people  of  this 
State  thoroughly  and  completely  to  understand  and  realize  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Communist  Party  are  organized  into  an  iron  disciplined  group 
and  controlled,  unquestionably,  by  a  foreign  power,  Soviet  Russia. 

These  people  should  be  regarded  for  what  they  actually  are — agents 
of  a  foreign  power,  and  should  not  be,  in  any  way,  looked  upon  as  super- 
patriots  and  saviors  of  the  working  class  of  America  and  California,  as 
they  would  like  to  lead,  us  to  believe. 

The  official  mass  murders  of  Soviet  Russia's  Fifth  Period,  together 
with  its  amazing  trials  in  which  every  defendant  attempted  to  out-con- 
fess the  other ;  literally  bubbling  over  with  the  admission  of  treasonable 
crimes  against  the  Soviet  Government,  fantastically,  eagerly  and  enthusi- 
astically inviting  the  death  penalty  are  now  being  sold  to  the  American 
people  by  the  Communists  as  far-visioned  statesmanship  on  the  part  of 
Dictator  Stalin. 

Ambassador  Joseph  E.  Davies'  book,  Mission  to  Moscow,  is  pounced 
on  by  the  Communists  of  America  as  corroborating  evidence  of 
the  statesmanship  of  Joseph  Stalin  in  defending  the  "democracy"  of 
Soviet  Russia  and  the  United  Nations.  This  phase  of  Ambassador  Davies ' 
book,  Mission  to  Moscow,  should  be  read  in  conjunction  with  the  reports 
on  the  trials  by  Dr.  John  Dewey,  Men  and  Politics,  by  Louis  Fisher  and 
reports  by  writers  who  were  in  actual  attendance  at  the  trials  in  Russia 
and  who  possessed  a  knowledge  of  Communist  ideology  and  .tactics. 

Hewlett  Johnson,  the  aged  Dean  of  Canterbury,  has  written  a  book, 
Soviet  Power,  and  this  volume  is  now  being  given  widespread  circulation 
by  the  Communist  Party  of  America.  (Over  a  million  copies  had  been 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  93 

distributed  by  1948)  Eugene  Lyons,  who  spent  considerable  time  in 
Soviet  Russia,  calls  this  book  by  the  Dean  of  Canterbury  "a  topsy-turvy 
book  *  *  *  an  Alice-in- Wonderland  volume  that  can  only  be  catalogued 
as  literature  of  hallucination  *  *  *." 

COMMUNIST  PRE-WAR  TREACHERY 

The  members  of  your  committee  realized  on  the  morning  of  June  23, 
1941,  that  an  era  of  Communist  strategy  had  come  to  an  end  in  California 
and  in  the  United  States.  The  committee  had  been  preparing  a  series  of 
hearings  connected  with  the  strikes  at  the  North  American  Aircraft  Com- 
pany in  Inglewood.  This  plant  had  been  closed  June  6,  1941,  by  the 
C.  I.  0.,  but  it  had  been  reopened  several  weeks  later  by  the  United  States 
Army,  acting  under  the  direction  of  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

While  the  committee  did  not  have  an  opportunity  to  fully  investigate 
this  strike  it  learned  that  its  leaders  in  the  C.  I.  0.  were  the  same  old 
Communist  and  fellow-traveling  crowd.  Communists  Wyndham  Morti- 
mer and  Philip  M.  Connelly — -Lew  Miehener,  Elmer  Freitag — who  was 
registered  as  a  Communist  in  1938 — rand  lesser  lights  such  as  Jeff  Kibre 
and  Don  Healy,  were  the  Stalinist  leaders  of  this  piece  of  defense  sabo- 
tage in  America.  It  was  all  over,  of  course,  when  Hitler's  panzer  divisions 
drove  into  Russia  June  22,  1941. 

Your  committee  knew  that  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States 
would  receive  new  instructions ;  that  the  revolutionary  character  of  the 
Communist  Party  of  America  would  be  disguised ;  that  the  Communists 
of  California  would,  as  long  as  such  tactics  assisted  Soviet  Russia,  be 
the  most  enthusiastic  patriots  for  the  defeat  of  Hitler  and  the  enemies  of 
the  Red  Fatherland. 

What  love  of  the  United  States,  its  Constitution,  Flag,  traditions 
and  way  of  life  could  not  accomplish  in  its  appeal  to  men  like  Wyndham 
Mortimer  and  Lew  Miehener,  invasion  of  a  foreign  totalitarian  dictator- 
ship accomplished  overnight. 

The  people  of  California  and  the  United  States  should  never  forget 
that  the  defense  efforts  of  our  great  Nation  wotdd  have  been  ruthlessly 
sabotaged  by  what  purported  to  be  an  American  labor  movement — had  it 
not  been  for  the  need  of  a  foreign  dictatorship  thousands  of  miles  away. 

SUMMARY   OP   SIXTH   PERIOD 

Your  committee  reported,  therefore,  that,  in  this  Sixth  Period  of 
Communist  development  and  strategy  in  California  and  the  United 
States,  the  war  efforts  of  our  State  and  Nation  were  then  safe  from  Com- 
munist interference  and  sabotage.  Every  real  Communist  in  the  United 
States  would  sacrifice,  fight,  and  die  if  need  be,  just  so  long  as  the  sacrific- 
ing, fighting  and  dying  assists  the  Red  Fatherland — Soviet  Russia,  the 
committee  observed. 

Meanwhile,  Americans  should  make  no  mistake  about  the  true  situa- 
tion. The  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  of  America  is  NOT 
willing  to  sacrifice,  to  fight  or  to  die,  to  preserve  American  Democracy, 
its  Constitution,  its  Flag,  its  tradition,  or  its  way  of  life.  The  long  range 
objective  has  not  changed  and  will  not  change.  The  revolutionary  spirit 
was  temporarily  on  ice.  The  Seventh  Period  of  Communist  development 
in  this  country  may  see  it  in  all  its  grim  horror  if  the  needs,  ambitions  and 
foreign  policy  of  Soviet  Russia  so  ordain,  your  committee  warned. 


94  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

The  committee  also  warned  in  1943 : 

Those  who  have  read  thus  far  are  well  capable  of  drawing  their  own  conclusions. 
Your  committee's  investigators  already  report  plans  of  the  Communist  Party  in  Cali- 
fornia for  the  formation  of  soldiers'  and  sailors'  councils  in  the  Army  and  the  Navy, 
patterned  after  similar  councils  set  up  in  the  armies  and  navies  of  the  Czar  and  the 
republican  government  in  Russia  in  1917. 

Reports  reaching  your  committee  from  closed  meetings  of  Communists  groups 
throughout  California  tell  of  plans  for  Soviet  governments  throughout  Europe  upon 
the  collapse  of  Hitlerism  and  the  weakening  of  the  Nazi  yoke. 

While  it  is  not  the  province  of  your  committee  to  prognosticate  the  future,  the 
committee,  must,  nevertheless,  state  to  you  with  all  the  emphasis  at  its  command  that 
this,  the  Sixth  Period  of  Communist  development  and  strategy,  is  not  the  last  period. 

The  committee  warns  the  people  of  California  and  of  the  United  States  that  there 
will  be  a  Seventh  Period  of  Communist  strategy  in  America.  Only  the  vigilance  of  the 
American  people  and  the  devotion  to  the  Constitution  and  traditions  of  the  United 
States  on  the  part  of  public  officials  can  successfully  block  the  Seventh  Period  of  Com- 
munism from  being  the  last  period  of  the  American  way  of  life. 

This  warning  brings  to  an  end  the  revised  and  edited  wording  of  the 
analysis  of  the  Six  Periods  of  Communist  strategy  from  the  committee's 
prophetic  1943  Report.  The  committee  reported  further  on  the  Seventh 
Period  in  its  1945  and  1947  Reports  and  basic  subsequent  developments 
are  sketched  out  in  the  following  excerpts  from  the  1947  Third  Report : 

II.  Seventh  Period  of  Communist  Strategy 

The  Sixth  Period  of  Communist  strategy  came  to  an  end  with  the 
termination  of  World  War  II. 

In  conformance  with  the  blueprints  for  world  domination  and  con- 
quest carefully  mapped  by  Lenin  and  Stalin,  the  defeat  of  Hitler  her- 
alded the  necessity  for  the  revival  of  the  old  class  antagonisms  between 
the  Communists  and  capitalist  governments,  and  these  antagonisms  were 
resumed  immediately  with  full  vigor. 

An  excuse  to  restore  the  American  Communist  Party  to  its  full  pre- 
war revolutionary  militancy  had  to  he  found. 

There  were  only  two  things  that  Earl  Browder  could  possibly  do. 
He  either  had  to  voluntarily  admit  that  he  had  ideologically  blundered 
in  adopting  his  capitalist  appeasement  program,  or  submit  himself  to  a 
critical  attack  on  that  ground  by  someone  else.  It  would  not  have  been 
expedient  or  convincing  for  the  leader  of  the  American  Communist  Party 
to  raise  his  own  voice  in  self-criticism,  particularly  after  having  perse- 
vered in  his  ideological  error  for  18  months.  To  suddenly  have  reversed 
himself  would  have  thoroughly  convinced  the  American  public  of  the 
deceptive  role  he  had  played  during  the  period  of  Soviet  Russia 's  frantic 
need  for  military  supplies  and  assistance.  The  ruse  was  shabby  enough 
at  best  but  Muskovite  devotees  and  half-witted  Soviet  Firsters  had  to  be 
kept  in  line  for  future  Communist  window-dressing.  Browder  was  com- 
pelled to  make  the  supreme  sacrifice. 

Jacques  Buclos,  leader  of  the  French  Communist  Party  and  confi- 
dant of  the  Kremlin  for  many  years,  was  selected  as  the  outstanding 
Marxist  theologian  to  excoriate  Browder  for  his  heresy,  and  thus  reestab- 
lish militant,  revolutionary,  prewar  Communism  in  the  United  States. 
Consequently  Buclos  penned  the  critical  article  revealing  Browder  as  a 
blundering  Marxist  who,  caught  in  the  toils  of  Capitalist  luxury,  had 
betrayed  Saint  Lenin,  Uncle  Joe,  the  hierarchy  of  old  Bolsheviks  (except 
those  liquidated  in  Stalin's  Blood  Purges),  and  the  <l toiling  masses." 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  95 

For  18  months  prior  to  the  Duclos  epistle  not  a  single  American 
Communist  voice  had  been  raised  in  criticism  of  Browder  's  policy.  For 
18  long  months  every  Communist  from  13th  Street  in  New  York  City 
to  Sixth  Street  in  Los  Angeles  beat  their  chests  and  their  Marxist  voodoo- 
drums  in  applause  of  Browder 's  brilliancy  in  outwitting  Hearst,  the 
Tenney  Committee,  and  Capitalism  in  general. 

Five  days  before  the  appearance  of  the  Duclos  letter,  Comrade 
Browder  was  swamped  with  congratulatory  messages  from  all  over  the 
United  States  on  the  occasion  of  his  birthday.  He  was  lavishly  praised 
by  the  big  Commissars  and  the  little  comrades  for  his  15  years  of  "out- 
standing Marxist  leadership. ' ' 

If  any  American  Communist  mentioned  Comrade  Browder 's  alleged 
aberration  during  this  period  there  certainly  is  no  record  of  the  fact. 
It  took  the  Duclos  epistle  to  do  the  trick. 

Five  days  after  heaping  praise  and  adulation  on  America's  "out- 
standing Marxist  leader, ' '  a  short  letter  from  a  Frenchman  struck  with 
lightning  force.  Most  amazingly,  it  struck  instantaneously,  simulta- 
neously and  with  shocking  effect  it  brought  every  comrade  to  his  feet 
with  but  a  single  idea :  Browder  has  been  wrong !  For  18  long  months 
they  had  been  his  dupes ;  they  had  been  hypnotized,  while  Marx,  Lenin, 
Stalin,  and  the  ' '  toiling  masses ' '  had  been  sold  down  the  river  to  luxury 
and  capitalism. 

It  is  significant  to  note  that  Browder  has  not  shared  the  fate  of 
Jay  Lovestone  or  Leon  Trotsky.  As  yet  there  are  no  hated  "Browder- 
ites"  to  take  their  places  with  the  Lovestoneites  and  Trotskyites.  This 
fact  is  the  real  tip-off  on  the  ruse  played  by  Joseph  Stalin  and  his  stooges 
in  the  United  States. 

Browder  dutifully  made  a  new  pilgrimage  to  Moscow  and  finally 
emerged  as  a  Soviet  book-salesman,  at  last  properly  registered  as  the 
agent  of  a  foreign  government  with  the  State  Department  of  the  United 
States. 

The  pressing  need  for  Communist  collaboration  with  American  capi- 
talism had  passed.  Browder,  the  scapegoat,  had  played  his  part.  He  was 
removed  from  his  high  position  of  leadership  and  replaced  by  William  Z. 
Foster,  who  immediately  restored  the  party  to  its  former  blood  and 
thunder  role.  The  old  revolutionary  hymn  of  hate  was  again  sung  by 
the  revived  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  of  America.  The 
party 's  educational  institutions  mushroomed  throughout  the  country ; 
Communist-front  organizations  and  transmission  belts  were  created  for 
every  possible  phase  of  American  life  (see  1948  Fourth  Report)  and  the 
process  of  infiltrating  Communists  into  strategic  positions  in  government, 
labor,  American  social  and  economic  life  was  revived  with  fanatical  zeal. 

In  light  of  the  foregoing  it  should  be  reiterated  here  that  the  Com- 
intern was  not  actually  dissolved  in  1943  as  announced  by  Moscow.  Docu- 
mentary proof  was  produced  by  Igor  Gouzenko  consisting  of  official 
records  of  the  Soviet  Embassy  in  Ottawa.  These  documents  were  turned 
over  to  Canadian  officials,  and  they  prove  conclusively  that  the  Comin- 
tern continues  to  function  with  accelerated  activity ;  directing,  correlat- 
ing and  coordinating  the  treasonable  work  of  every  Communist  Party 
in  the  world  and,  moreover,  that  it  is  being  utilized  as  a  master  instru- 
ment in  Soviet  espionage. 


96  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

SEVENTH  PERIOD  RED  SHAKEUP 

During  his  15  years  as  the  chief  Communist  Commissar  in  the  United 
States,  Browder  developed  a  personal  following  of  party  members.  Many 
of  these  comrades,  because  of  their  personal  admiration  for  Browder, 
committed  the  unpardonable  sin  of  continuing  to  agree  with  his  policies 
even  after  he  was  deprived  of  his  position  and  was  succeeded  by  William 
Z.  Foster  in  1945.  Many  of  the  ordinary  rank-and-file  members,  imbued, 
perhaps,  with  some  degree  of  instinctive  intellectual  honesty,  either 
resigned  in  protest  or  were  expelled  quietly  because  they  continued  to 
express  bewilderment  for  this  sudden  twist  in  the  party  line. 

Most  prominent  among  the  individuals  who  severed  their  connec- 
tions with  the  Communist  Party  is  Louis  Budenz,  a  charter  member  of 
the  party  and  one-time  editor  of  the  monthly  ideological  magazine,  The 
Communist.  Budenz  was  a  member  of  the  editorial  staff  of  the  New  York 
Daily  Worker,  the  national  organ  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United 
States.  When  his  resignation  was  made  public  the  news  created  a  dis- 
tinct upheaval  in  Communist  Party  circles,  and,  of  course,  Budenz  has 
been  attacked  by  the  Communist  press  and  the  "smear"  squads  with  the 
usual  viciousness  reserved  for  such  cases.  Since  severing  his  connections 
with  the  party  he  has  been  teaching  political  science  at  Fordham  Uni- 
versity and  is  doing  a  real  public  service  in  exposing  the  traitorous  activi- 
ties of  the  Communist  Party  and  its  members  in  the  United  States. 

In  San  Francisco,  Vern  Smith,  a  Communist  cf  many  years  stand- 
ing and  former  political  and  labor  news  editor  of  the  People's  Daily 
World,  was  summarily  dismissed  from  the  staff  of  the  Communist  peri- 
odical on  August  28,  1946.  On  the  following  day,  the  same  publication 
carried  the  news  of  Smith's  expulsion  from  the  Communist  Party. 

THE  RED  YO-TO  ROUTINE 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  why  the  abrupt  and  inconsistent 
changes  of  the  Communist  Party  line,  bouncing  like  a  yo-yo,  throws  the 
rank-and-file  membership  of  the  party  into  a  state  of  bewildered  con- 
fusion. 

During  the  period  of  the  Hitler-Stalin  Pact  (August,  1939,  to  June, 
1941),  the  members  of  the  party  had  been  told  that  it  was  perfectly  pos- 
sible for  the  Soviet  Union  and  Nazi  Germany  to  collaborate. 

When  Germany  invaded  the  Soviet  Union  the  American  Commu- 
ists  were  then  told  that  the  war  had  assumed  an  entirely  different  char- 
acter; that  the  imperialist  war  had  become  a  "people's  war." 

The  more  honest  Communists  must  have  believed  that  someone  had 
committed  a  mistake  by  believing  such  collaboration  possible  in  the  first 
place. 

Every  Communist  had  been  indoctrinated  with  the  idea  that  Capi- 
talism and  Communism  were  deadly  enemies  and  that  it  was  a  fight  to 
the  finish  with  no  quarter  asked  or  given  until  one  or  the  other  conquered. 
Without  warning  Comrade  Browder  announced  that  Capitalism  and 
Communism  could  get  on  very  well  together  and  apparently  all  the  little 
comrades  believed  it. 

No  one  appeared  to  challenge  his  statement  for  18  months. 

A  French  Communist,  3,000  miles  away,  suddenly  awakened  to  the 
strange  love-fest  going  on  in  America  between  the  Communists  and  the 
Capitalists  and  started  screaming  that  such  collaboration  is  a  Marxist 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  97 

sin  and  that  Comrade  Browder  was  a  half-wit  for  ever  having  conceived 
such  an  idea. 

Obviously  the  Duclos  denunciation  carried  the  implication  that  the 
American  Communists  had  been  as  half-witted  as  their  half-witted  leader 
in  following  him.  Ignoring  the  contemptuous  implication  of  the  Duclos 
criticism,  the  majority  of  their  Communist  sheep  raced  to  New  York, 
liquidated  the  Communist  Political  Association,  deposed  poor  old  blun- 
dering Browder,  reestablished  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States 
and  applauded  the  fine  Marxism  of  Commissar  Foster,  who  had  followed 
right  along  behind  Comrade  Browder  during  the  Communist-Capitalist 
marriage,  now  duly  annulled. 

The  delegates  returned  to  their  respective  spheres  of  influence, 
resumed  their  hostility  toward  American  institutions,  intensified  their 
technique  of  fomenting  strikes,  racial  antagonism,  confusion  and  chaos; 
frantically  renewed  the  distribution  of  the  familiar  mimeographed  prop- 
aganda  sheets  and  resumed  doing  their  level  best  in  creating  upheaval 
for  the  purpose  of  "softening  up"  our  government  for  the  time  when 
Comrade  Stalin  is  ready  for  the  kill. 

HARDENED  REDS  STILL  WITH  US 

The  committee  is  aware  of  the  repercussions  and  confusion  that  ran 
up  and  down  the  State  of  California  as  a  result  of  the  twists  and  turns 
in  the  Communist  Party  line,  together  with  the  attendant  resignations 
and  expulsions  of  dissident  members  from  the  Communist  Party. 

However,  the  hard,  militant,  thoroughly  indoctrinated  and  discip- 
lined core  of  Communist  professional  revolutionary  cadres  remain  intact. 
The  committee  finds,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  the  Communist  Party  in 
California  has  emerged  from  its  recent  controversies  stronger  and  more 
militant  than  ever  before. 

The  committee  believes  that  the  American  public,  long  suffering  and 
tolerant  of  things  Communistic,  has  been  recently  electrified  into  sudden 
appreciation  of  the  real  and  imminent  danger  of  Communist  activity 
in  the  State  of  California  and  in  the  United  States.  The  committee  is  of 
the  opinion  that  the  international  situation  is  largely  responsible  for 
altered  public  opinion  on  Communism  in  general  and  the  Soviet  Union 
in  particular. 

The  committee,  in  former  reports,  has  emphasized  a  fundamental 
aspect  of  Communist  theory  embodied  in  the  "day-to-day  struggle" 
technique.  The  continuous  application  of  the  principles  involved  in  this 
technique  constitutes  an  undermining  erosion  of  capitalist  institutions 
and  governments.  The  present  period  of  Communist  strategy  will 
intensify  this  technique,  and  every  economic  and  social  problem  will  be 
magnified  and  ballooned  out  of  all  proportion  to  its  real  importance. 

In  discussing  the  Sixth  Period  of  Communist  strategy  in  the  United 
States,  the  committee,  at  page  102  of  its  1945  Report  made  this  prophetic 
statement : 

"The  sixth  period  of  Communist  strategy  in  the  United  States  may  have  ended 
with  the  Teheran  Conference  and  the  frantic  name-changing  in  official  Communist 
Party  organizations.  The  committee  is  entirely  too  close  lo  the  picture  at  (his  writing 
to  definitely  state  whether  the  sixth  period  closed  with  this  event  or  whether  it  was 
a  logical  development  of  the  same  period.  Whether  it  was  merely  a  continuance  of  the 
sixth  period  or  the  ushering  in  of  the  seventh,  the  committee  states  unequivocally  that 
a  new  period  in  Communist  strategy  in  the  United  States  will  begin  when  the  war  is 


98  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

concluded.  The  Communists  of  America  have  carefully  laid  the  ground  work  and  are 
prepared  for  the  events  that  are  to  come.  They  expect  social  upheaval  and  economic 
disruption  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  war.  They  believe  that  there  will  be  a  bitter  and 
discontented  people  throughout  this  broad  country  of  ours  ;  widespread  unemployment, 
rising  prices  and  staggering  public  debts.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  war  veterans  will 
be  attempting  to  adjust  themselves  to  civil  life.  The  ground-work  for  race  riots  is 
already  laid.  There  will  be  confusion  and  chaos.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  workers 
will  be  discharged  from  closing  wartime  factories,  swelling  the  army  of  the  unem- 
ployed. They  believe  they  will  be  in  a  position  to  foment  dissension.  The  Communists 
of  the  United  States  and  of  the  world  have  a  program.  Although,  as  has  been  shown 
in  this  report,  there  is  nothing  'scientific'  about  Marxism,  it  is,  nevertheless,  a  blue- 
print for  revolution." 

FUTURE  COMMUNIST  ACTIVITY 

The  American  people  are  now  faced  with  the  greatest  agitational 
activity  in  the  history  of  American  Communism.  If  our  country  is  unfor- 
tunately plunged  into  a  new  economic  depression  accompanied  by  wide- 
spread unemployment,  the  Communists  will  take  full  advantage  of  the 
situation,  will  foment  strikes,  strife  and  unrest  on  a  scale  that  has  never 
before  been  experienced  in  the  United  States. 

There  is  a  ray  of  hope,  however,  shining  through  the  dark  clouds 
of  Communist  intrigue — the  awakening  of  the  American  people  to  the 
real  character  of  international  Communism.  There  is  a  growing  alertness 
in  the  public  mind.  The  American  public  is  beginning  to  recognize  the 
professional  Communist  revolutionary  for  what  he  actually  is — the  agent 
of  a  foreign  government,  mouthing  allegiance  to  the  Constitution  and  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  while  working  industriously  for  the 
destruction  of  both. 

The  people  of  California  are  becoming  more  and  more  familiar  with 
the  transmission-belt  front  organization  of  Communist  creation. 

As  the  committee  has  gathered  facts  in  public  hearings  in  various 
parts  of  the  Stafe,  the  people,  through  the  press,  have  become  familiar 
with  the  same  old  Communist  names  that  parade  through  the  multitudi- 
nous network  of  Communist  fronts. 

It  is  not  mere  coincidence  that  the  names  of  the  same  individuals 
consistently  appear  on  the  letterheads  and  literature  of  a  long  list  of 
Communist-front  organizations.  The  public  hearings  and  reports  of  the 
committee  have  brought  this  indisputable  fact  to  the  attention  of  Cali- 
fornians. 

III.  The  Great  Contradiction 

Since  the  launching  of  the  World  Communist  movement  a  century 
ago  the  Communists  repeatedly  have  contradicted  themselves  as  a  routine 
matter  of  strategy  and  tactics. 

The  ' '  Big  Lie ' '  that  would  be  most  useful  at  any  particular  period 
invariably  has  been  used  without  hesitation  and  with  remarkable  skill 
and  effectiveness. 

Today  in  the  United  States,  the  whole  concept  of  Communism  of  the 
Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist  brand  and  the  position  in  American  affairs  of 
the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  are  on  trial  in  the  courts  and  before  the 
bar  of  public  opinion. 

The  Communists  say  that  they  simply  are  advocates  of  progress 
through  socialism  and  that  Marxist-Leninist-Stalinist  socialism  is  the 
highest  type  of  socialism. 

Lovers  of  freedom  contend  that  Communism  is  a  murderous,  brutal 
world  conspiracy,  dedicated  to  the  one  goal  of  world  revolution  and  which 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  99 

advocates,  teaches  and  carries  out  in  practice  a  strategy  and  tactic  that 
is  subservient  to  one  power,  Soviet  Russia,  and  dedicated  to  the  over- 
throw of  every  non-Communist  government  in  the  world  by  force  and 
violence. 

The  Communists  refuse  to  disavow  Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism ; 
but  they  hypocritically  assert  that  it  says  and  means  a  peaceful  support, 
of  democracy  (which  cannot  be  found  in  any  of  its  classic  texts)  while 
freedom-loving  opponents  of  Communism  assert  that  it  means  only  dicta- 
torship and  slavery. 

The  great  contradiction  of  the  many  that  now  confront  Communism 
in  its  bid  for  power  is  Communism's  bland  assertion  that  it  believes  in 
progress  by  peaceful  change,  whereas  it  never  has  accomplished  any 
progress  and  it  has  changed  governments  across  the  globe  by  brutal, 
bloody  use  of  murderous  force  and  violence. 

In  the  United  States,  while  still  seeking  to  dupe  Americans  with 
fake  propaganda  about  Communist  love  for  peace  and  democracy,  Ameri- 
can Communists  without  deviation  have  supported  and  praised  this 
march  of  violent  revolutionary  conquest  by  World  Communism  and  have 
conducted  front  activities  and  propaganda  to  support  it  actively. 

The  test  of  what  Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism  actually  means, 
therefore,  becomes  of  supreme  importance  in  this  controversy.  Commu- 
nists and  befuddled  apologists  for  and  appeasers  of  Communism  must 
be  confronted  with  specific  and  documented  facts  to  prove  the  real  truth. 

Your  committee,  therefore,  in  the  immediately  following  section  of 
this  report,  presents  a  detailed  analysis,  copiously  documented  from  the 
official  Communist  texts.  These  texts — the  works  of  Marx,  Engels,  Lenin, 
Stalin,  Molotov,  Dimitroff,  Browder,  Foster,  Dennis  and  others,  the 
Cominform  official  newspaper,  For  a  Lasting  Peace,  For  a  People's 
Democracy,  the  Daily  Worker  and  Political  Affairs,  and  the  classic  text- 
book, History  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union — all  tell  in 
plain  English  what  the  Communism  of  the  Marxist-Leninist- Stalinist 
brand  says  it  believes  in  and  is  going  to  do. 

THE  PROOF  OF  THE  PUDDING 

Your  committee  is  convinced  that  the  Legislature  and  the  people  of 
California  will  want  to  judge  Communism  by  this  simple  test:  Does 
Communism  assert  in  its  formal  statements  and  official  texts  what  it 
believes  in  and  proposes  to  do;  and  if  so,  did  it  and  is  it  now  doing  what 
it  says  it  believes  in  doing;  and  how  extensively  does  its  performance 
conform  to  its  self-avowed  promises? 

An  important  corollary  question  is  this :  Does  the  Communist  Party, 
U.  8.  A.,  believe  in  the  same  things,  does  it  approve  the  translation  by 
any  Communists  anywhere  of  the  word  of  Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism 
into  deeds  that  bear  the  stamp  of  the  Hammer-and-Sickle  of  World  Com- 
munism; and  woidd  it  do  the  same  things  if  it  thought  the  time  was 
opportune  f 

These  questions  are  the  most  important  before  free  people  through- 
out the  world  today.  These  questions  must  be  answered  conclusively  and 
precisely  once  and  for  all  if  human  freedom  is  to  survive  in  this  world. 

They  must  be  answered  conclusively  and  precisely  because  if  Com- 
munist belief  is  what  it  says  it  is  and  Communist  action  confirms  that 
it  does  what  it  says  it  believes  in,  then  we  must  act  to  fight  it  with  every 


100  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

means  at  our  command ;  for  we  already  have  shown  that  the  United  States 
has  been  placed  by  history  in  the  position  of  being  the  core  and  center  of 
the  anti-Communist,  freedom-loving  world. 

COMMUNIST  CONTRADICTIONS 

Events  since  the  launching  of  the  Seventh  Period  of  Communist 
strategy  in  the  United  States  have  involved  all  Communists  in  a  web  of 
contradictions. 

In  order  to  carry  on  their  march  to  the  one  goal  of  world  revolution, 
the  Communist  must  conspire  under  total  discipline,  in  the  manner  laid 
down  in  the  classic  texts  of  Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism,  to  promote  the 
class  struggle  to  the  point  of  revolution  and  to  seize  power  wherever 
they  can. 

But  in  order  to  fool  the  gullible  and  divide  their  opponents  they 
must  continue  to  lie  about  their  objectives ;  misrepresent  their  immediate 
purposes  and,  as  Lenin  said  in  Leftwing  Communism,  An  Infantile  Dis- 
order: 

The  strictest  loyalty  to  the  ideas  of  Communism  must  be  combined  with  the 
ability  to  make  all  the  necessary  practical  compromises,  to  "tack,"  to  make  agree- 
ments, zigzags,  retreats  and  so  on  *  *  *  and  properly  to  select  the  moment  when 
*  *  *  by  a  determined  attack  of  the  proletariat,  to  defeat  them  all  (the  natural 
opponents  of  Communism)  and  capture  political  power. 

The  Communists  in  the  past  did  accomplish  these  feats  of  chicanery 
and  did  lull  their  opponents  to  sleep  and  outwit  them.  But  history  is 
recording  a  series  of  murderous  Communist  accomplishments  across  the 
globe  that  negate  their  hypocritical  pretension  in  America  that  they 
merely  are  peaceful  advocates  of  progress  through  a  benign  socialism. 

Here  is  the  record  of  bloody  and  barbarous  Communist  aggression 
that  points  an  accusing  finger  at  Communist  traitors  in  America  in  this 
momentous  year  of  decision : 

The  March  op  Violent  Communist  Revolution 

The  American  Communist  Party,  together  with  the  Communist 
Parties  in  other  countries,  might  well  be  likened  to  spokes  in  a  wheel,  the 
hub  of  which  is  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union.  All  of  the 
parties  are  working  together  under  the  central  control  and  guidance  of 
the  Soviet  Communists  toward  a  single  aim — the  subversion  of  the  world 
to  a  Soviet  dictatorship. 

The  Communist  Party  in  this  country  has  functioned  as  a  section 
of  the  world  Communist  organization  since  the  day  of  the  party 's  organi- 
zation here  in  1919. 

The  continued  existence  of  the  Communist  International  after  its 
supposed  dissolution  was  evidenced  by  the  assumption  by  former  Com- 
munist International  leaders  of  controlling  positions  in  European  coun- 
tries which  have  been  subverted  to  Soviet  puppet  states,  during  and  since 
the  Second  World  War. 

In  every  instance,  the  legally  constituted  governments  of  these  coun- 
tries were  overthrown  by  Communist  resort  to  force  and  violence. 

Among  the  Comintern  leaders  who  thus  assumed  positions  of  power 
are :  Georgi  Dimitrov,  former  general  secretary  of  the  Communist  Inter- 
national and  now  Prime  Minister  of  Bulgaria ;  Clement  Gottwald,  former 
member  of  the  Comintern  Executive  Committee  and  now  Prime  Minister 
of  Czechoslovakia;  Anna  Pauker,  former  member  of  the  Comintern 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  101 

Executive  Committee  and  now  Foreign  Minister  of  Rumania ;  Boleslaw 
Bierut,  a  leading  Polish  Comintern  agent  and  now  that  country's  Presi- 
dent ;  Matyas  Rakosi,  former  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Communist  International  and  now  Deputy  Prime  Minister  of  Hungary. 

Open,  above-ground  activity  by  the  Communist  International  was 
resumed  in  September  1947  as  a  result  of  a  meeting  of  European  Com- 
munist leaders  in  Poland.  It  comes  as  no  surprise  that  this  new  version 
of  the  Comintern,  which  is  called  the  Communist  Information  Bureau  or 
Cominform,  has  openly  enrolled  the  Communist  Parties  of  Bulgaria, 
Czechoslovakia,  Rumania,  Poland,  and  Hungary  where  the  old  Comintern 
officials  are  in  command. 

Also  avowed  members  of  the  Cominform  are  the  Communist  Parties 
of  France  and  Italy.  The  Yugoslavia  Communist  Party  was  a  member 
until  Tito  fell  out  with  Stalin  in  1948. 

Master  of  the  international  alliance,  however,  is  the  Soviet  Union, 
which  sent  two  of  Stalin 's  most  trusted  lieutenants  to  help  organize  the 
new  information  bureau,  and  to  serve  as  permanent  representatives  of 
the  Russian  Communist  Party.  These  were  A.  Zhdanov  (now  deceased) 
and  G.  Malenkov,  both  of  whom  served  on  the  powerful  Politburo  of  the 
Soviet  Government  and  on  the  secretariat  of  the  Russian  Communist 
Party.  They  presented  the  leading  reports  at  this  conference. 

V.  8.  Beds  and  the  Cominform 

Undoubtedly  reasons  of  expediency  have  prevented  Communist  Par- 
ties in  other  nations  from  declaring  open  affiliation  with  the  Cominform. 
This  is  admitted  by  the  Communists  of  the  United  States,  who  support 
the  Cominform  enthusiastically  but  explain  that  they  cannot  affiliate 
officially  because  unfavorable  reaction  to  the  party  will  increase  among 
citizens  of  the  United  States.  Here  is  how  the  National  Board  of  the  Com- 
munist Party,  U.  S.  A.,  put  it : 

The  establishment  of  an  information  bureau  by  nine  Communist  Parties  of  Europe 
is  of  great  significance.  *   *   * 

These  Communist  Parties  are  the  leaders  of  the  working  class  and  peoples  of 
their  countries.  They  are  the  champions  of  national  freedom,  social  progress,  economic 
reconstruction,  democratic  advance,  and  world  peace.  *   *   * 

It  is  already  clear  that  their  joint  declaration  of  views  and  their  formation  of 
an  information  bureau  has  everywhere  strengthened  patriots  defending  national  free- 
dom and  the  cause  of  peace,  making  more  effective  their  resistance  to  the  program  of 
imperialist  expansion,  intervention,  and  war,  of  which  Wall  Street  is  the  chief  insti- 
gator. 

Considering  the  question  of  whether  or  not  to  seek  affiliation  to  the  new  informa- 
tion bureau,  the  national  board  of  the  Communist  Party  has  concluded  that  the  present 
political  situation  in  the  United  States  is  such  that  the  Communist  Party  should  not 
affiliate.  The  reactionary  and  pro-Fascist  forces  now  whipping  up  anti-Communist 
hysteria  and  war  incitement  in  our  country  would  undoubtedly  seize  upon  such  action 
by  the  American  Communist  Party  as  a  pretext  for  new  provocations  and  repressions 
against  the  Communists  and  all  other  sections  of  the  American  labor  and  progressive 
movement.  *   *   *  (Political  Affairs,  December,  1947,  p.  1141.) 

The  Cominform 's  official  publication,  entitled,  in  accordance  with 
typical  Communist  double  talk,  For  a  Lasting  Peace;  For  a  People's 
Democracy,  is  a  new  vehicle  for  directives  from  the  Soviet  Union  to  the 
other  Communist  Parties  of  the  world.  Words  from  Soviet  Communist 
leaders  are  given  the  greatest  prominence  in  this  publication,  which  was 
printed  at  the  Cominform  headquarters  in  Belgrade,  Yugoslavia,  and 
translated  into  many  languages.  After  Tito  and  Stalin  split,  it  was  moved 
to  Bucharest,  Rumania. 


102  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

A  front-page  editorial  in  the  initial  issue  of  the  Cominform  organ, 
dated  November  10,  1947,  lays  down  the  rule  that : 

Communist  Parties  everywhere  must  become  a  leader  or  organizer  of  the  popular 
masses  in  the  struggle  for  peace  and  a  people's  democracy. 

The  same  editorial  explains  that  the  leader  of  the  "struggle  for 
peace"  is  the  Soviet  Union,  which  has  sworn  to  resist  the  attempts  of 
the  United  States  to  plunge  the  world  into  another  war.  A  people's 
democracy  is  interpreted  as  the  form  of  government  found  in  the  Soviet 
Union  and  its  satellite  states,  in  contrast  to  the  "fascist-like"  United 
States,  where  monopoly  capital  allegedly  rules. 

The  initial  issue  of  the  Cominform  organ  also  prints  the  following 
unmistakable  command : 

The  plan  for  the  economic  and  political  enslavement  of  Europe  by  American 
imperialism  is  being  supplemented  by  plans  for  the  the  economic  and  political  enslave- 
ment of  China,  Indonesia,  the  South  American  countries.  *   *   * 

Under  these  circumstances  it  is  necessary  that  the  anti-imperialist,  democratic 
camp  should  close  its  ranks,  draw  up  an  agreed  program  of  actions,  and  work  out  its 
own  tactics  against  the  main  forces  of  the  imperialist  camp,  against  American  imperial- 
ism and  its  British  and  French  allies,  against  the  right-wing  Socialists,  primarily  in 
Britain  and  France.  *  *   * 

VI.    U.  S.  Reds  and  Foreign  Communist  Parties 

We  have  given  proof  how  slavishly  the  American  Communist  Party 
has  devoted  itself  to  the  revolutionary  strategy,  tactics,  and  principles 
of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  involving  advocacy  of  and 
resort  to  force  and  violence. 

Considering  the  fact  that  the  Communist  Parties  in  other  countries 
are  part  of  a  world  party,  controlled  by  Moscow,  considering  also  that 
the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  is  a  disciplined  part  of  this  world  organi- 
zation, it  is  relevant  to  examine  the  attitude  of  the  Communist  Party, 
U.  S.  A.,  toward  the  present  tactics  of  some  of  these  Communist  Parties 
to  determine  to  what  extent  they  have  actually  put  into  practice  a  policy 
of  resorting  to  overthrow  of  constitutional  government  by  force  and 
violence,  which  has  been  aided  and  approved  by  the  U.  S.  A.  party. 

If  the  pattern  of  the  world  Communist  Party  is  viewed  in  its  proper 
perspective,  it  must  be  realized  that  foreign  Communist  Parties  engaged 
in  open,  civil  conflict,  are  replicas  of  the  American  party,  merely  in  a 
more  advanced  stage  of  revolutionary  development.  What  the  Commu- 
nists in  China  or  Greece  are  doing  today  is  what  the  American  Com- 
munists woidd  do  under  similar  circumstances. 

Demonstrating  that  the  Communists  resort  to  force  and  violence  in 
other  countries  is  merely  an  extension  of  the  same  fundamental  Com- 
munist principles  to  which  the  American  party  is  similarly  devoted,  as 
an  agent  of  a  foreign  power,  is  the  fact  that  the  domestic  Communist 
Party,  its  press  and  spokesmen  have  given  unreserved  support  to  these 
foreign  movements. 

There  has  never  been  any  repudiation  or  criticism  of  their  resort  to 
forcible  and  violent  methods  by  the  Communist  Party,  TJ.  S.  A.,  despite 
its  claimed  repugnance  for  such  tactics. 

(A.)     China 
The  revolutionary  plans  of  Soviet  leaders  regarding  China  are  vir- 
tually a  matter  of  public  record.  Joseph  Stalin  himself  declared  before 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  103 

the  enlarged  executive  committee  of  the  Communist  International  on 
November  30,  1926 : 

Chinese  Revolution 

One  thing  is  clear,  that  it  is  the  chief  duty  of  the  Chinese  Communists  to  fight  to 
prepare  the  way  for  the  development  of  the  Chinese  revolution. 

The  Soviet-directed  Communist  International  issued  the  following 
declaration  on  the  subject  during  its  world  congress  in  Moscow  in  1928  : 

Armed  Insurrection 

In  China  the  revolution  will  place  before  the  party  the  preparation  for  and 
carrying  through  of  armed  insurrection  as  the  sole  path  to  the  completion  of  the 
bourgeoise  democratic  revolution  *  *  *  the  overthrow  from  power  of  the  Kuomintang 
*   *  *  and  the  creation  of  the  rule  of  the  Soviets. 

Like  an  echo  are  the  words  of  the  leader  of  the  Chinese  Communists, 
Mao  Tse-tung,  in  1938 : 

Armed  Struggle 

Armed  struggle  is  the  salient  form  of  China's  Revolution.  We  Communists  never 
conceal  or  disguise  our  political  aims.  Our  future  or  ultimate  program  is  to  advance 
China  into  the  realm  of  doubted. 

There  are  few  tactics  of  violence  that  the  Chinese  Communists  have 
not  used  in  pursuing  their  revolutionary  objective.  Open,  armed  assaults 
by  Communist  armies  in  China  are  the  subject  of  daily  reports  in  the 
press. 

Freda  Utley,  a  former  Communist  who  first  saw  China  in  1928  when 
she  delivered  instructions  from  the  Comintern  in  Moscow  to  Chinese 
Communist  leaders,  and  who  has  frequently  revisited  China  since  then, 
has  stated : 

*  *  *  Not  only  is  there  abundant  evidence  that  the  Chinese  Communist  Party 
leaders  have  wholeheartedly  adopted  the  same  philosophy  as  the  rulers  of  Soviet  Rus- 
sia ;  not  only  do  they  believe  that  the  end  justifies  the  means  and  that  lying,  cheating, 
political  chicanery,  cruelty,  even  murder  are  the  means  which  must  be  adopted  to  win 
and  retain  power  for  the  Communist  Party,  they  have  already  advanced  some  distance 
along  the  same  road  to  tyranny  as  the  Russian  Communist  Party  trod  long  ago  *  *  *. 
(Freda  Utley,  Last  Chance  in  China  [Bobbs-Merrill  Co.,  New  York,  1947],  p.  161.) 

Mrs.  Utley  also  found  that  "like  the  Bolsheviks  before  them,"  the 
Chinese  Communists  "have  already  started  to  solve  the  agrarian  prob- 
lem by  the  mass  murder  of  'kulaks.'  "  She  further  pointed  out  that  not 
even  Japanese  onslaught  on  China  in  World  War  II  called  a  halt  to 
Chinese  Communists'  brutal  aggression  against  fellow  Chinese.  In  her 
recent  book,  "Last  Chance  in  China,"  she  stated  : 

Lin  Yutang,  who  was  sympathetic  to  the  Communists  in  the  early  years  of  the 
war,  has  written  :  "For  every  Japanese  they  claim  to  have  killed,  the  Communists 
have  killed  at  least  five  Chinese.  For  every  town  they  have  captured  from  the  Japanese 
they  have  captured  50  towns  from  other  Chinese.  Of  the  hundreds  of  'clashes'  per  year 
they  claim  to  their  credit,  a  fair  percentage  must  include  those  with  the  Chinese 
'enemy' — half  of  their  weapons  have  been  robbed  from  other  Chinese  guerillas  and 
regular  units.  *   *   *"  (Ibid.,  pp.  163  and  203.) 

Coupled  with  reports  of  the  brutal  and  wholesale  destruction  of  life 
and  property  in  the  Chinese  civil  war  are  numerous  accounts  of  direct 
military  support  to  the  Chinese  revolutionaries  from  the  Soviet  Union. 


104  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

Dr.  William  M.  McGovern,  Northwestern  University  professor  who 
recently  made  a  survey  of  the  Far  East  in  the  capacity  of  special  investi- 
gator for  the  House  Foreign  Affairs  Committee,  reported  to  his  com- 
mittee in  March  1948  that  Russia  has  been  supplying  arms  and  ammu- 
nition to  the  Chinese  Communists  for  two  years,  using  both  captured 
Japanese  stocks  and  new  weapons  and  material  produced  with  equipment 
taken  from  captured  Japanese  munition  plants. 

Evidence  that  Russia's  military  intervention  extends  back  to  the 
earliest  days  of  the  Chinese  civil  war,  however,  has  been  offered  by 
George  E.  Sokolsky,  author  and  columnist  who  served  as  American 
correspondent  in  China  from  1920  to  1930  among  other  varied  duties  in 
that  country.  Mr.  Sokolsky  stated  in  his  newspaper  column  of  November 
28,  1947 : 

I  can  testify,  from  personal  knowledge  and  experience,  that  this  Chinese  Com- 
munist group  was  organized  by  Michael  Borodin,  who,  with  Marshal  Bluecher,  then 
called  General  Galens,  and  about  100  Russian  civilian  and  military  advisers,  came 
to  China  in  1924  and  remained  until  1927,  when  they  were  dismissed  by  Chiang.  *  *  * 

The  top  command  of  the  present  Chinese  Communists  group  consists  of  men  who 
were  then  in  the  Third  International,  some  of  whom  studied  in  Red  Army  schools, 
attended  conferences  at  Baku  and  at  Moscow,  and  whose  relationship  to  the  Third 
International  was  recorded  in  the  official  minutes  of  this  body  as  released  in  several 
languages  in  its  official  organ  called  the  International  Press  Correspondence.  (These 
Days,  by  George  E.  Sokolsky,  Washington  Times-Herald,  November  28,  1947,  p.  15.) 

U.  S.  Communists  and  China 

What  has  been  the  attitude  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United 
States  toward  the  Communist  forcible  methods  in  China? 

Has  it,  as  the  professed  opponent  of  overthrowing  the  Government 
by  force  and  violence,  condemned  its  fellow  Communists  for  the  inesti- 
mable bloodshed  and  suffering  inflicted  on  the  Chinese  people?  To  the 
contrary,  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  has  joined  the 
Chinese  Communists  in  calling  for  the  overthrow  of  China's  legally 
constituted  government. 

As  a  practical  method  of  aiding  the  Chinese  Communists,  the  Ameri- 
can party  has  concentrated  its  efforts  on  an  all-out  campaign  to  prevent 
any  American  assistance  which  might  help  the  Chinese  National  Gov- 
ernment repel  its  Communist  attackers.  To  this  end,  the  American  Com- 
munists unleashed  barrage  after  barrage  of  propaganda  attempting  to 
show  that  the  Chinese  Communists  are  heroically  struggling  to  save 
democracy  from  a  Fascist  dictatorship  imposed  by  the  legally  constituted 
Government.  This  propaganda  even  goes  so  far  as  to  maintain  that  the 
United  States  itself  is  responsible  for  the  Chinese  civil  war.  For  example, 
the  Daily  Worker,  official  organ  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United 
States,  asserted  on  October  26,  1947  (p.  4)  : 

Further  American  aid  can  only  postpone  but  cannot  prevent  Chiang's  inevitable 
defeat.  The  Chinese  Communist  Party  has  now  declared,  after  years  of  working  for 
conciliation,  that  there  is  no  place  for  Chiang  Kai-shek  in  the  democratic  coalition 
government  that  will  be  formed  as  soon  as  the  Kuomintang  dictatorship  has  been 
overthrown. 

The  people  of  the  Kuomintang  areas  are  rallying  increasingly  to  support  the 
democratic  front,  led  by  the  Communist  Party,  which  is  now  the  main  leader  of  the 
national  struggle  for  independence  and  democracy. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  105 

Political  Affairs,  an  official  monthly  magazine  of  the  American  Com- 
munist Party,  stated  in  the  July  1947  issue  (pp.  597  and  600)  : 

*  *  *  United  States  imperialist  intervention  in  China  is  directly  responsible 
for  the  civil  war  *  *  *.  In  scope,  magnitude,  and  strategic  significance,  the  United 
States-sponsored  war  directed  at  preventing  China  from  becoming  united,  democratic 
and  free,  is  the  decisive  postwar  military  operation  of  the  imperialist  forces  *   *   *. 

Mass  meetings  and  petitions  are  favored  tactics  in  the  American 
Communists'  propaganda  campaign  which  proceeds  not  only  under  the 
open  auspices  of  the  Communist  Party  itself  but  also  through  Com- 
munist-supported organizations,  such  as  the  Committee  for  a  Democratic 
Far  Eastern  Policy.  William  Z.  Foster,  chairman  of  the  American  party, 
emphasized  the  importance  of  such  meetings  in  the  Daily  Worker  of 
December  2,  1945 : 

On  the  international  scale,  the  key  task  *  *  *  is  to  stop  American  intervention 
in  China  *  *  *.  The  war  in  China  is  the  key  of  all  problems  on  the  international  front 
and  it  is  here,  above  all  else,  where  we  have  to  deal  the  hardest  blow  to  reaction. 

On  the  question  of  China,  which  is  our  key  concentration  *  *  *  we  want  to 
hold  500  meetings  all  over  the  country  to  mobilize  all  the  forces  of  the  people  that  we 
can  reach  to  put  a  stop  to  the  intervention  in  China.  Our  party  must  use  every  ounce 
of  its  strength  and  skill  and  organizational  ability  to  make  these  500  meetings  a 
success. 

Entirely  in  line  with  the  task  outlined  above  was  the  conference  on 
China  and  the  Far  East  held  in  San  Francisco  October  18-20,  1946, 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Committee  for  a  Democratic  Far  Eastern 
Policy.  Among  the  Communist-line  ballyhoo  produced  by  this  front 
group  were  the  proclamation  of  a  ''Get  Out  of  China  Week"  and  a 
resolution  asking  for  congressional  action. 

The  Committee  for  a  Democratic  Far  Eastern  Policy  repeated  this 
performance  in  January  1948  by  holding  a  National  Conference  on 
American  Policy  in  China  and  the  Far  East  in  New  York  City,  at  which 
protests  against  any  aid  to  the  National  Government  of  China  were 
again  made  and  another  "China  Week"  planned.  The  conference  won 
high  praise  from  Chairman  William  Z.  Foster  of  the  American  Com- 
munist Party. 

Speakers  at  this  conference  significantly  included  Anna  Louise 
Strong,  former  editor  of  the  Moscow  Daily  News,  and  Frederick  V.  Field, 
also  a  writer  for  official  Communist  publications. 

Sponsors  included  such  figures  as  Ferdinand  C.  Smith,  under  depor- 
tation proceedings  as  an  alien  Communist ;  Ben  Gold,  avowed  Communist 
union  leader;  Harry  Bridges,  identified  as  a  Communist  by  the  Daily 
Worker  itself ;  Albert  Maltz,  Hollywood  screen  writer  whose  Communist 
Party  affiliation  was  exposed  by  the  Committee  on  Un-American  Activi- 
ties ;  and  Ella  Winter,  Daily  Worker  writer. 

Thus  we  find  complete  support  by  the  American  Communist  organi- 
zation of  force  and  violence  as  practised  by  the  Chinese  Communists. 

(B)     Greece 

While  China  is  locked  in  a  bloody  life-and-death  struggle  with  Com- 
munist revolutionaries,  on  a  neighboring  continent  the  nation  of  Greece 
is  desperately  trying  to  cope  with  a  civil  war  of  the  same  brutal  pattern. 

Greek  Communists  scarcely  waited  for  World  War  II  to  end  before 
launching  their  plans  for  the  violent  overthrow  of  the  lawful  Greek 


106  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

Government.  Today  those  plans  have  progressed  so  far  that  the  Com- 
munists have  set  up  within  Greece  their  own  independent  state  under 
whose  banner  Communist  armies  daily  do  open  battle  with  troops  of  the 
Government.  Encouragement  or  aid  to  the  Greek  rebel  state  from  the 
Soviet  Union  and  Soviet  satellite  states  bordering  Greece  have  added 
serious  complications  to  the  civil  war. 

The  Greek  situation  has  been  found  to  be  so  urgent  that  millions  of 
dollars  worth  of  military  and  economic  aid  have  already  been  rushed  to 
the  legal  Government  of  that  country  from  the  United  States.  Govern- 
ment leaders,  from  the  President  on  down,  have  been  outspoken  in  their 
denunciation  of  the  activities  of  the  Greek  Communists. 

In  a  report  to  Congress  on  aid  sent  to  Greece,  President  Truman  said 
on  February  16,  1948  : 

*  *  *  Greece  has  been  subjected  to  ever-increasing  pressure  by  the  Communist 
minority,  which,  subservient  to  the  foreign  influences  from  which  it  draws  support, 
would  impose  its  will  on  the  Greek  people  by  force  of  arms.  *  *   * 

It  is  significant  that  the  guerrilla  warfare  is  directed  not  against  the  Greek  Army 
but  against  the  people  of  Greece.  The  deliberate  and  wanton  destruction  of  Greek 
villages  does  not  result  from  military  engagements.  It  is  determined  and  ruthless 
destruction  intended  to  render  people  homeless  and  drive  them  from  the  soil ;  to  force 
them  into  overcrowded  urban  centers  where  they  become  charges  of  an  already  over- 
burdened state,  and  to  create  for  them  conditions  of  misery  and  hardship  in  the  hope 
that  this  will  make  them  susceptible  to  political  agitation.  *   *   * 

These  bands  which  traffic  in  human  misery  and  chaos  are  small,  too  small  to 
claim  any  truly  representative  character.  They  total  about  20,000  of  which  a  large 
portion  are  known  to  have  been  unwillingly  impressed  into  the  guerrilla  ranks  under 
threat  of  death  to  themselves  and  their  families.  (New  York  Times,  February  17, 
1948,  p.  16.) 

The  Soviet  Union,  both  directly  and  through  the  Communist  Infor- 
mation Bureau,  which  she  controls,  has  been  outspoken  in  her  support  of 
the  Greek  rebels. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  official  organ  of  the  Cominform,  For  a 
Lasting  Peace,  for  a  People's  Democracy,  printed  this  encouragement 
of  the  Greek  revolutionaries  on  the  front  page  of  its  December  1,  1947, 
issue : 

The  valiant  troops  of  the  Greek  democratic  army  who  are  setting  heroic  examples 
in  the  struggle  for  freedom  and  independence  are  frustrating  the  intentions  of  the 
Anglo-American  warmongers  to  enslave  the  Greek  people  and  to  convert  Greece  into  a 
springboard  for  a  new  war. 

The  Cominform  organ  also  does  not  hesitate  to  make  a  direct  appeal 
for  aid  to  the  Greek  Communists : 

The  working  people  of  the  world,  the  democrats  of  all  countries  have  every 
right — and  it  is  their  sacred  duty- — to  render  assistance  to  the  much-suffering  Greek 
people.  This  assistance  should  take  the  form  of  a  world-wide  demand  that  the  Anglo- 
American  troops  be  withdrawn  from  Greece  and  that  American  intervention  cease ;  it 
should  take  the  form  of  moral  and  material  support  for  the  Greek  people  who  are  fight- 
ing for  their  freedom  and  independence. 

The  same  appeal  for  aid  includes  the  announcement  that : 
At  their  recent  conference  in  Belgrade  the  representatives  of  the  trade  unions 
of  Yugoslavia,  Bulgaria,  Rumania,  and  Albania  discussed  the  political  situation  in 
the  Balkans  and  asked  the  World  Federation  of  Trade  Unions  to  appeal  to  the  work- 
ing people  of  all  countries  to  render  moral  political  assistance  to  the  fighting  Greek 
people,  to  collect  funds,  and  give  other  material  assistance  to  the  victims  of  Fascist 
terror  in  the  country. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  107 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  "Greek  people"  referred  to  by  the  Corn- 
inform  organ  are  the  Communist  guerillas,  and  that  the  "Fascist  terror" 
is  the  legally  constituted  Government  of  Greece. 

The  stand  taken  by  Soviet  leaders  before  the  United  Nations  organi- 
zation has  also  been  steadfastly  on  the  side  of  the  Greek  Communist 
rebels  and  their  Soviet  satellite  collaborators.  Arbitrarily  rejecting  the 
majority  report  of  the  UN  Balkan  Inquiry  Commission  which  found  that 
Greece's  puppet  neighbors  were  promoting  the  civil  war,  Soviet  repre- 
sentatives wielded  the  veto  power  to  block  any  action  by  the  UN  Security 
Council  toward  solving  the  Greek  crisis. 

In  one  bitter  harangue  after  another  Soviet  spokesmen  such  as 
Andrei  Gromyko  and  Andrei  Vishinsky  tried  to  blame  the  civil  war  on 
the  legal  Greek  Government  and  the  United  States  and  to  represent  the 
accused  satellites  as  peace-loving  nations  minding  their  own  business. 

TJ.  S.  Communists  and  Greece 

In  lock  step  with  the  U.  S.  S.  R.  and  her  satellites  in  the  plot  to  over- 
throw the  legal  Greek  Government  is  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United 
States. 

In  a  furious  propaganda  campaign  the  American  Communists  are 
repeating  and  amplifying  Soviet  vituperation  against  the  legal  Greek 
Government  in  an  attempt  to  convince  the  American  public  that  the 
Communist  revolution  in  Greece  is  justified.  And  despite  the  fact  that 
the  United  States  is  spending  millions  of  dollars  to  help  Greece  ward  off 
its  Communist  attackers,  the  Communists  within  the  United  States  are 
following  the  line  of  the  Communist  International  or  Cominform  and 
promoting  moral  and  material  aid  for  the  other  side. 

Eugene  Dennis,  general  secretary  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the 
United  States,  in  outlining  some  of  the  party  tasks  at  a  meeting  of  the 
party's  national  committee  in  February  1948,  said : 

*  *  *  We  must  now  help  organize  the  widest  support  and  Nation-wide  demon- 
strative activity  to  *  *  *  render  the  most  complete  political,  moral,  and  economic 
aid  to  the  people's  democratic  movement  in  *  *  *  Greece.  (Eugene  Dennis,  report  to 
national  committee,  Communist  Party,  U.S.A.,  February  3-5,  1948,  reprinted  in  Politi- 
cal Affairs,  March  1948,  p.  211.) 

Dennis  made  it  clear  that  by  "people's  democratic  movement"  he 
meant  the  Greek  Communist  rebels,  not  the  lawful  Government  sup- 
ported by  the  United  States.  All  of  the  Communist  propaganda  relies 
heavily  on  such  misleading  phrases  in  an  attempt  to  confuse  the  issues 
and  to  curry  popular  support  for  what  is  fundamentally  unpopular  with 
truly  democratic  peoples. 

Typical  of  the  Communist  propaganda  in  behalf  of  the  Greek  revo- 
lutionists is  the  following  statement  in  the  Daily  Worker,  official  organ 
of  the  American  Communist  Party,  which,  it  should  be  noted,  has  adroitly 
transformed  proven  charges  against  Greek  Communist  guerillas  into 
charges  against  the  Greek  Government : 

Today,  the  Greek  people  are  still  fighting  for  their  freedom.  This  time  they  are 
fighting  a  minority  of  monarchists  and  Fascist  quislings  who  stay  in  power  only 
because  Washington  is  sending  them  money  and  ammunition. 

The  establishment  of  a  genuinely  democratic  Greek  Government  in  northern 
Greece,  under  the  leadership  of  General  Markos,  puts  the  Athens  clique  even  more 
nakedly  on  the  spot  as  a  government  of  usurpers  backed  by  a  foreign  power. 


108  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

Wherever  the  people  of  a  nation  defend  their  democratic  liberties  and  national 
independence,  the  reactionaries  see  the  hand  of  "Soviet  invasion."  This  is  a  compli- 
ment to  the  Soviet  Union's  stand  for  freedom,  however  false  it  may  be  in  fact.  But  it  is 
an  alibi  for  our  interference  with  the  governments  of  every  nation  in  the  world.  (Daily 
Worker,  December  29,  1947,  p.  9.) 

On  another  occasion,  the  Daily  Worker  was  even  more  violent : 

*  *  *  Greece  is  a  hell  house  of  fear,  persecution,  and  murder,  where  the  col- 
laborators of  the  Nazis  are  sitting  in  the  seats  of  power  thanks  to  the  intervention  of 
Churchill  in  1944  and  Truman's  intervention  since  then.  (Daily  Worker,  December  9, 
1947,  p.  4.) 

The  same  Communist  organ  devoted  an  entire  page  of  its  November 
19,  1947,  issue  (p.  8)  to  an  optimistic  summary  of  the  Greek  rebels' 
progress  in  ' '  liberating ' '  Greece.  It  said  in  part : 

The  shaded  areas  on  the  map  of  Greece  opposite,  represent  the  territory  liber- 
ated and  governed  by  the  democratic  army  under  Gen.  Vafthiades  Markos.  *  *  *  Self- 
governing  bodies,  people's  councils,  courts,  schools,  banks,  and  trade  exchanges  are 
functioning  in  many  localities.  *   *   * 

The  guerrillas'  job  is  to  protect  the  freed  heart  of  their  land,  and  fight  for  the 
independence  and  liberty  of  all  Greece.  *  *  *  The  threat  of  American  troops  coming 
to  carry  out  the  mission  which  President  Truman  calls  restoring  order  makes  their 
struggle  more  urgent,  their  resistance  more  determined.  They've  fought  in  their 
mountains  for  7  years  now — and  their  answer  to  American  threats  is  their  record  : 
"The  Greek  people  will  never  give  up,  they  will  never  be  beaten." 

Confidence  in  the  eventual  success  of  the  Greek  Communist  revolu- 
tion was  also  expressed  by  William  Z.  Foster,  chairman  of  the  Com- 
munist Party,  U.  S.  A.,  in  the  official  Communist  magazine,  Political 
Affairs,  for  June  1947  (p.  497).  "In  Greece,"  Foster  said— 

*  *  *  Anglo-American  imperialism  is  in  control  and  it  is  making  every  effort 
to  keep  the  old  reactionary  cliques  in  existence. 

Nevertheless,  he  said,  it  was  safe  to  say  that  Greece — 

will  not  be  able  to  withstand  very  long  the  new  spirit  of  democracy  and  interna- 
tional cooperation  that  is  sweeping  through  the  peoples  of  central  Europe  and  the 
Balkans  *  *  *. 

Functioning  again  as  a  cheering  section  for  the  Greek  guerrillas, 
the  American  Communist  Party  through  its  Daily  Worker  on  January 
18,  1948,  related  the  evils  nourishing  in  Greece  as  a  result  of  American 
intervention  and  concluded : 

Both  the  Athens  puppets  and  the  American  officials  engineering  them  are  reach- 
ing the  point  where  it  is  difficult  to  decide  what  to  lie  about  next.  A  lie  good  for  the 
United  States  Congress  does  not  go  over  with  the  Greek  people.  More  and  more  Greeks 
are  recognizing  the  free  Greek  government  as  their  only  hope  for  peace,  and  are 
going  to  the  mountains  to  take  up  arms  to  defend  it. 

Mass  meetings,  picket  lines,  and  petitions  play  an  integral  part  in 
the  American  Communists'  campaign  for  their  Greek  colleagues. 

For  example,  the  New  York  State  committee  of  the  Communist 
Party  sponsored  a  lunchdiour  demonstration  on  a  New  York  City  street 
corner  on  December  10,  1947,  to  rally  support  for  the  Greek  Communists 
as  well  as  Communists  uprising  in  other  foreign  countries.  To  encour- 
age American  unionists'  support,  for  which  this  particular  rally  was 
intended,  the  Daily  Worker  in  announcing  the  rally  spoke  glowingly  of 
the  need  for  American  support  of  Greek  labor.  After  speeches  by  such 
leaders  as  John  Gates,  Daily  Worker  editor;  Elizabeth  Gurley  Flynn, 
head  of  the  women's  commission  of  the  Communist  Party;  Robert 
Thompson,  New  York  party  chairman  ;  and  Ben  Davis,  Communist  Party 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  109 

representative  on  the  New  York  City  Council,  it  was  startlingly  clear 
that  support  for  Greek  labor  was  synonymous  with  support  for  Greek 
Communists. 

The  anxiety  of  American  Communists  to  ensnare  unions  into  sup- 
porting Greek  Communists  had  been  evident,  also,  from  Daily  Worker 
articles  appealing  to  A.  F.  of  L.  and  CIO  unions  to  protest  American 
policy  in  Greece.  With  national  leaders  of  both  the  A.  F.  of  L.  and  CIO 
on  record  as  fully  behind  the  Marshall  plan  and  other  American  efforts 
to  halt  the  revolutionary  spread  of  Communism  in  Greece  and  other 
foreign  countries,  however,  Communist  success  has  been  limited  to  those 
individual  unions  within  the  CIO  and  A.  F.  of  L.  where  the  Communist 
membership  is  in  control. 

Another  type  of  mass  organization  through  which  the  campaign  of 
the  Communists  has  been  promoted  is  the  American  Council  for  a  Dem- 
ocratic Greece,  which  picketed  the  Greek  consulate  in  New  York  City 
on  February  18, 1948.  The  Daily  Worker  prominently  heralded  the  event 
as  follows : 

A  demonstration  to  protest  American  military  intervention  on  the  side  of 
Greek  fascism  has  been  called  for  tomorrow  [Wednesday]  afternoon,  4  to  G  p.m.,  in 
front  of  the  Greek  consulate,  Sixth  Avenue  and  Forty-ninth  Street,  the  American 
Council  for  a  Democratic  Greece  announced  today. 

Robert  Thompson,  State  chairman  of  the  Communist  Party,  called  on  the  citi- 
zens of  New  York  to  "raise  an  outcry  to  stay  the  hand  of  the  Greek  monarchist-Fascist 
executioners." 

"The  Truman  administration  is  in  the  first  place  responsible  for  this  terror," 
Thompson  said.  "American  officers,  sent  by  Truman,  are  inciting  an  unwilling  Greek 
citizenry  and  even  an  unwilling  Royalist-Fascist-led  Army  to  make  a  war  of  brother 
against  brother." 

Many  prominent  citizens  and  trade-union  leaders  have  announced  their  support 
for  the  demonstration.  *   *  *   (Daily  Worker,  February  17,  1948,  p.  2.) 

On  the  day  after  the  event,  the  Daily  Worker  joyfully  reported  that 
more  than  200  persons  had  taken  part  in  the  picketing  of  the  consulate, 
during  the  course  of  which  a  memorandum  was  submitted  to  the  consu- 
late listing  the  "Athens  Government's  atrocities  and  persecutions  of 
the  Greek  people ' '  and  asking  withdrawal  of  American  military  support 
from  Greece. 

It  should  be  noted  that  among  the  Communists  in  strategic  posi- 
tions in  the  American  Council  for  a  Democratic  Greece  are  Peter  Harisi- 
ades  and  D.  Christophorides,  on  the  national  board;  Oreste  Stephano, 
executive  vice  president;  and  Stephen  Leondopoulos,  treasurer.  The 
Justice  Department  is  now  seeking  to  deport  Harisiades  as  an  alien 
Communist  seeking  to  overthrow  the  United  States  Government  by  force 
and  violence.  It  should  be  noted  further  that  among  the  signers  of  the 
memorandum  presented  to  the  Greek  consulate  during  the  February 
demonstration  were :  Ben  Davis,  Communist  city  councilman  in  New 
York ;  Max  Perlow,  whom  the  Daily  Worker  identified  as  a  Communist 
Party  member  on  July  18,  1933;  "Walter  Garland,  former  Communist 
Party  candidate  for  the  New  York  State  Assembly;  and  Ella  Winter, 
Daily  Worker  writer. 

OTHER  BALKAN  STATES 

In  the  five  other  countries  that  complete  the  Balkan  group — namely, 
Czechoslovakia,  Hungary,  Bulgaria,  Rumania,  and  Yugoslavia — Com- 
munist minorities  staged  one  successful  revolution  after  another  against 


110  tlN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

the  legally  constituted  Balkan  governments.  In  each  case,  the  revolution 
was  speeded  by  the  threat  or  actual  presence  of  armed  troops  of  the 
Soviet  Union,  in  whose  shadow  the  Balkans  lie ;  and  it  was  praised  and 
supported  by  the  U.  S.  Communist  Party. 

(C)    CZECHOSLOVAKIA 

Most  recent  Balkan  state  to  be  brought  under  a  reign  of  terror  is  the 
historically  democratic  nation  of  Czechoslovakia.  Although  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  Czech  Republic  had  been  cooperating  with  the  Communists 
and  supporting  Soviet  foreign  policy  for  years,  it  was  not  until  February 
1948  that  the  Communists  made  their  successful  bid  for  total  power. 

That  the  Communists  had  long  made  careful  preparations  for  the 
final  February  coup  was  all  too  evident.  Even  while  they  ostensibly 
cooperated  with  non-Communist  parties  in  a  Czech  "national  front" 
government  following  World  War  II,  the  Communists  were  quietly 
worming  their  way  into  control  of  the  police  forces,  trade-unions,  and 
radio  and  press  of  Czechoslovakia. 

It  was  the  non-Communists'  sudden  realization  of  the  Communist 
inroads  on  the  country 's  police  forces  that  touched  off  the  crisis  leading 
to  the  country's  downfall,  in  fact.  Learning  that  the  Communist  Minister 
of  Interior  had  just  replaced  eight  powerful  police  officials  in  and  around 
Prague  with  Communists,  an  alarmed  majority  of  the  Czech  Cabinet  on 
February  13,  1948,  ordered  the  appointments  suspended.  The  Minister 
of  Interior  refused  to  obey,  and  12  non-Communist  cabinet  members 
resigned  in  protest  on  February  20,  1948. 

With  the  conspiracy  against  Czechslovakia  thus  exposed  and  chal- 
lenged, the  Communists  abandoned  all  pretenses  and  made  a  swift,  violent 
strike  for  total  power.  Klement  Gottwald,  Communist  Prime  Minister 
and  former  member  of  the  Communist  International 's  central  executive 
committee,  replaced  the  protesting  cabinet  members  with  pro-Com- 
munists ;  ordered  the  organization  of  action  committees  or  revolutionary 
Soviets;  and  forcefully  suppressed  opposition  with  the  aid  of  the  Com- 
munist-controlled police. 

The  success  of  the  Communist  revolution  in  Czechslovakia  was 
announced  to  a  horrified  world  on  February  24,  1948.  The  ruthless 
violence  of  the  Czech  Communists  in  their  coup  was  the  subject  of  one 
bulletin  after  another  in  the  American  press. 

Communist  discovery  of  a  "plot"  against  the  Czech  Government 
by  the  Czech  National  Socialist  Party — significantly  the  largest  opposi- 
tion party  in  the  country — is  familiar  Communist  tactic.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1947,  the  Communists  had  unearthed  an  alleged  plot  against  the 
Slovak  Democratic  Party,  in  an  obvious  attempt  to  discredit  the  majority 
party  of  Slovakia.  Evidence  that  the  Communists  themselves  were  the 
real  plotters  of  conspiracy  has  now  been  brought  to  the  eyes  of  the  world. 

The  Moscow-directed  Communist  Information  Bureau  has  been 
unusually  blunt  on  the  subject  of  the  Czech  revolution.  A  New  York 
Times  correspondent  reporting  from  the  Cominform  headquarters  in 
Belgrade,  Yugoslavia,  on  March  15,  1948,  said : 

The  bulletin  of  the  Communist  Information  Bureau  (Cominform)  charged  today 
that  reactionary  forces,  recently  defeated  in  Czechoslovakia,  "have  merely  gone  under- 
ground" and  called  for  a  thorough  "purge"  in  that  country. 

The  unusually  frank  report  on  the  situation  in  Czechoslovakia,  signed  by  R. 
Slanski,  acknowledged  that  the  Communists  were  a  minority  force,  but  asserted  their 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  111 

determination  to  stay  in  power  through  such  mechanisms  as  "action  committees," 
which  played  a  major  role  in  assuring  a  victory  in  the  latest  crisis.  *   *   * 

Discussing  recent  events,  the  Cominform  paper  said  the  crisis  was  provoked 
because  anti-Communist  members  in  the  previous  government  had  a  majority  and  were 
able  to  vote  down  Communist  proposals.  *  *  *  (Neiv  York  Times,  March  16,  1948, 
P-  14.) 

The  Communist  outrage  against  the  Czech  Government  has  been 
bitterly  condemned  by  a  number  of  the  high-ranking  Czech  diplomats. 

Juraj  Slavik,  Czech  Ambassador  to  the  United  States,  and  Frantisek 
Nemec,  Czech  Minister  to  Canada,  resigned  on  March  3,  1948,  declaring 
they  would  carry  on  in  exile  a  fight  against  the  seizure  of  Czechoslovakia. 
Slavik  charged  that  Communist  domination  ha'd  made  his  country  a 
1 '  totalitarian  police  state' '  and  said, ' '  I  cannot  accept  as  legal  the  govern- 
ment headed  by  President  Benes  under  duress  and  terror. ' ' 

Dr.  Jan  Papanek,  permanent  Czechoslovak  delegate  to  the  United 
Nations,  demanded  a  United  Nations  investigation  of  the  Czech  situa- 
tion, in  a  blistering  statement  issued  on  March  10,  1948.  Dr.  Papanek 's 
statement  said  in  part : 

*  *  *  Today  I  feel  that  I  can  no  longer  postpone  action  without  failing  to  do 
my  duty  to  my  country  and  to  my  terrorized,  silenced,  and  enslaved  people.  And  I  take 
recourse  to  the  provision  of  the  Charter  of  the  United  Nations  in  a  specific  situation, 
a  situation  in  which  one  member  of  the  United  Nations  has  violated  the  independence 
of  another. 

The  Government  of  the  Czechoslovak  Republic,  legally  constituted  by  the  general 
parliamentary  elections  of  May  1946,  had  been  undermined  and  openly  placed  in 
jeopardy  on  February  22,  1948,  through  force  by  a  Communist  minority.  This  Com- 
munist minority  was  encouraged  and  given  promise  of  help,  if  necessary,  by  the 
representatives  of  the  Government  of  the  Union  of  Soviet  Socialist  Republics  who  came 
to  Prague  for  that  purpose,  led  by  V.  A.  Zorin,  Deputy  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

The  political  independence  of  Czechoslovakia,  a  member  of  the  United  Nations, 
has  thus  been  violated  by  threat  of  use  of  force  of  another  member  of  the  United 
Nations,  the  Union  of  Soviet  Socialist  Republics,  in  direct  infringement  of  paragraph 
4,  article  2,  of  the  United  Nations  Charter.  *   *   * 

It  is  very  clear  that  the  coup  by  the  Communist  minority  by  force  was  effectuated 
successfully  only  because  of  official  participation  of  representatives  of  the  Union  of 
Soviet  Socialist  Republics  and  because  of  the  threat  of  the  use  of  military  force  of  the 
Union  of  Soviet  Socialist  Republics  in  readiness  on  the  northwest  boundaries  of 
Czechoslovakia.  Official  and  military  representatives  of  the  Union  of  Soviet  Socialist 
Republics  participated  in  closed  and  public  meetings  of  the  Communist  Party  and 
stayed  long  enough  to  see  organized  terror  take  hold  of  the  free  democratic  Czecho- 
slovak people. 

Pictures  taken  in  the  streets  of  Prague,  published  in  the  world  press,  show 
officers  of  the  Soviet  Union  with  armed  police,  clad  in  new  Czechoslovak  uniforms, 
participating  in  the  meetings  and  demonstrations.  *   *   * 

The  Communist  usurpers  spread  terror  and  break  every  law  which  establishes 
and  protects  the  freedom  of  men  and  democratically  established  institutions,  even 
while  they  say  they  are  carrying  out  the  will  of  the  people.   *  *  * 

The  President  is  prevented  from  executing  his  constitutional  powers.  Political 
parties  have  been  forced  to  change  their  leaders.  Many  regularly  elected  members  of 
Parliament  have  not  only  been  removed  from  office,  but  deprived  of  their  parliamentary 
immunity.  Many  have  been  brutally  beaten  and  jailed.  *   *   * 

The  official  lists  of  names  of  individuals  faithful  to  their  democratic  principles 
who  have  been  arrested  without  legal  grounds  are  increasing  daily.  *  *  *  (New  York 
Times,  March  11,  1948,  p.  2.) 

To  many,  a  silent  but  no  less  eloquent  protest  against  the  Communist 
betrayal  of  Czechoslovakia  occurred  in  the  death  of  Czech  Foreign 
Minister  Jan  Masaryk,  whose  body  was  found  lying  in  a  courtyard  below 
his  window  on  March  10,  1948,  two  weeks  after  the  new  regime  came 
into  power.  Some  felt  in  Washington  that  the  famed  son  of  the  founder 
of  the  Czech  Republic  jumped  out  of  his  apartment  window  because  he 


112  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

was  hopeless  of  defying  successfully  or  even  moderating  the  course  of 
the  Communist  minority  terrorism.  Many  experts,  close  to  the  Czech 
situation  are  convinced  that  Masaryk  was  murdered,  by  this  convenient, 
and  not  unheard  of,  method. 

The  Czechoslovak  outrage  has  also  had  violent  repercussions  in 
America.  "The  tragic  death  of  the  Republic  of  Czechoslovakia  has  sent 
a  shock  throughout  the  civilized  world,"  President  Truman  told  Con- 
gress. At  the  same  time  the  President  condemned  the  Soviet  Union  for 
its  aggression  in  the  rest  of  the  Balkans  and  Europe. 

Since  the  close  of  hostilities,  the  Soviet  Union  and  its  agents  have  destroyed 
the  independence  and  democratic  character  of  a  whole  series  of  nations  in  eastern  and 
central  Europe. 

It  is  this  ruthless  course  of  action,  and  the  clear  design  to  extend  it  to  the 
remaining  free  nations  of  Europe,  that  have  brought  about  the  critical  situation  in 
Europe  today.   *   *   *    (Congressional  Record,  March  17,  1948,  p.  3084.) 

V.  S.  Communists  and  Czechoslovakia 

In  the  midst  of  American  indignation  at  the  Czech  disaster,  there 
remained  one  discordant  note.  This  was  sounded  by  America's  Com- 
munists who  raucously  defended  the  Czech  Communist  terrorists  all 
along  the  line. 

William  Z.  Foster,  the  head  of  the  American  Communist  Party, 
unblushingly  made  the  following  statement  after  Czechoslovakia  bowed 
to  the  Communists : 

The  basic  significance  of  the  stirring  events  of  the  past  week  in  Czechoslovakia 
is  that  American  imperialism  has  been  balked  in  its  attempt  to  set  up  its  control  over 
Czechoslovakia  under  the  Marshall  plan,  *  *  *  Its  plans  for  provoking  a  crisis, 
and  very  probably  a  civil  war  in  that  country,  have  failed  completely. 

Wall  Street  has  been  defeated  by  the  class  solidarity  of  the  workers  and  the 
national  independent  spirit  of  the  Czechoslovak  people.  *  *   * 

The  massed  workers,  full  of  revolutionary  spirit,  went  into  a  counteroffensive 
of  their  own.  They  compelled  Benes  to  accept  the  resignations  of  the  12  reactionary 
cabinet  ministers  and  also  to  recognize  the  new  democratic  cabinet  headed  by  Gott- 
wald.  Their  prompt  and  resolute  action,  under  determined  Communist  leadership, 
saved  Czechoslovakia  from  the  disastrous  civil  war  that  the  reactionaries  were  count- 
ing on.  *   *   * 

The  American  warmongering  press  is  now  shouting  that  the  governmental 
change  in  Prague  is  the  result  of  a  Moscow  plot.  This  is  a  stupid,  Red-baiting  lie. 
It  is  the  yelp  of  a  wounded,  frustrated  reaction,  one  of  whose  most  dearly  cherished 
imperialist  projects  has  been  shattered  on  the  rocks  of  the  people's  democracy.  *  *  * 

The  democratic  victory  won  in  Czechoslovakia  forecasts  the  eventual  victory 
of  all  of  the  people  of  western  Europe.  *  *   * 

The  peoples  of  Europe,  who  fought  so  hard  to  free  themselves  from  the  tyranny 
of  Hitler,  are  not  going  to  submit  to  the  tyranny  of  Wall  Street.  The  events  in 
Czechoslovakia  are  a  great  victory  for  democracy.  All  of  Europe,  sooner  or  later,  must 
and  will  go  truly  democratic  and  start  to  build  the  socialism  that  the  great  masses 
of  the  peoples  desire.  (Daily  Worker,  February  27,  1948,  p.  3.) 

The  following  statement  by  another  leading  American  Communist 
not  only  illustrates  the  American  party's  support  of  the  Czech  Com- 
munist revolutionaries  and  their  open  violence  but  also  offers  an 
unusually  crass  example  of  their  readiness  to  deny  their  use  of  violence 
in  the  face  of  clear  evidence.  It  is  made  by  Joseph  Starobin,  foreign 
affairs  "expert"  for  the  official  organ  of  the  American  Communist 
Partjr,  the  Daily  Worker : 

*  *  *  there  isn't  the  slightest  shred  of  evidence  that  Czechoslovakia  is  any 
less  an  independent  country  than  before  the  government  crisis,  not  a  fragment  of 
evidence  that  the  Soviet  Union  had  anything  to  do  with  the  country's  political 
upheaval.  *  *  * 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  113 

Czech  Communists  have  stopped  another  Munich,  far  from  having  perpetuated 
one,  as  our  papers  (which  see  everything  upside-down  in  their  Alice-in-Wonderland 
mirrors)  would  have  us  believe. 

They  [Communists]  have  exercised  the  defensive  powers  of  the  State  to  protect 
the  State — and  there  is  every  evidence  that  the  crisis  will  be  settled  within  constitu- 
tional limits.  Even  if  it  were  settled  beyond  those  limits,  there  are  certainly  crises 
which  demand  that.  (Daily  Worker,  February  29,  1948,  p.  3.) 

The  Stalinist  line  maintained  by  the  American  Communists  on  the 
Czechoslovakian  situation  has  been  described  by  the  newspaper  PM, 
in  an  interesting  survey  (on  February  29,  1948,  p.  17)  of  the  treatment 
of  the  Czech  crisis  by  the  Daily  Worker. 

The  survey  showed  that  when  the  Czech  storm  broke  with  the 
resignation  of  12  non-Communist  Czech  Cabinet  members  over  the  stack- 
ing of  the  police  with  Communists,  the  Daily  Worker  story  of  Febru- 
ary 22,  left  out  the  reason  for  the  cabinet  resignations.  The  following 
day 's  story  in  the  Daily  Worker  stated  as  a  fact  rather  than  as  a  Czech 
Communist  allegation  that  the  crisis  had  been  brought  on  by  "  capitalist 
exploitation"  and  "plots  against  the  Republic."  The  Daily  Worker  of 
February  24  was  the  only  New  York  paper  to  say  that  documents  prov- 
ing a  plot  against  the  Communists  had  been  discovered ;  no  description 
of  the  documents  were  offered.  The  February  25  Daily  Worker  heralded 
the  decision  of  the  Czech  Social  Democractic  Party  to  reverse  its  posi- 
tion and  work  with  the  Czech  Communists  but  did  not  mention  the  fact 
that  the  party  vote  reversing  its  stand  followed  a  police  raid  on  the  party 
headquarters  or  that  the  vote  Mras  taken  while  a  police  guard  of  125  men 
with  rifles  stood  outside  the  building. 

The  Daily  Worker  on  February  26,  instead  of  reporting  an  attack 
on  protesting  Prague  students  by  the  Communist-controlled  police  as 
other  newspapers  did,  printed  a  so-called  exclusive  story  which  told  how 
Czech  security  police  had  arrested  15  spies  working  for  a  secret  service 
organized  in  the  United  States  zone  of  Germany.  The  Daily  Worker 
said  the  conspiracy  had  support  from  "as  far  away  as  Connecticut." 
A  Daily  Worker  editorial  in  the  same  issue  hailed  the  Communist-con- 
trolled Czechoslovakia  as  "free  today,  gloriously  rid  of  all  big-money 
intrigues  and  conspiracies." 

On  February  27,  the  Daily  Worker  ran  glowing  accounts  of  how 
all  of  the  Czech  people  were  celebrating  and  rejoicing  in  their  new 
Communist  government,  as  well  as  other  articles  eulogizing  the  new 
government. 

(D)   Hungary 

Like  Czechoslovakia,  the  Soviet  satellite  state  of  Hungary  has  a 
tragic  history  of  Communist  resort  to  force  and  violence,  promoted  by 
the  Soviet  Union  and  supported  by  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United 
States. 

In  the  case  of  Hungary,  however,  the  Communist  revolution  was 
carried  on  in  the  actual  presence  of  Soviet  troops  who  remained  on 
Hungarian  soil  after  separating  the  Balkan  nation  from  Axis  domina- 
tion. Direct  Russian  intervention  in  Hungarian  affairs  was  so  obvious 
that  official  protests  were  addressed  to  the  Soviet  Union  from  the  Ameri- 
can Government. 


114  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

The  revolution  that  catapulted  Hungary  into  the  role  of  a  Soviet 
puppet  state  was  completed  on  May  31, 1947.  Although  a  non- Communist 
Small-Holders  Party  had  held  majority  control  in  the  Hungarian  Gov- 
ernment as  a  result  of  free  elections  since  1945,  Hungarian  Communists 
just  like  the  Czech  Communists  had  maneuvered  themselves  into  key 
positions  in  the  Government,  including  the  department  of  military  police. 
By  the  beginning  of  1947  the  Communists  were  ready  to  seize  power, 
which  they  did  by  forcefully  ousting  the  opposition  leaders  on  the 
familiar  trumped-up  charges  of  conspiracy. 

"Arrests  subsequent  to  the  Communists'  discovery  of  a  "plot"  in 
January,  1947,  were  reported  to  total  3,000,  according  to  an  Associated 
Press  dispatch  of  May  29,  1947. 

One  of  the  most  flagrant  arrests,  which  drew  the  official  protests  of 
the  United  States  Government,  was  that  of  Bela  Kovacs,  secretary- 
general  of  the  majority,  non-Communist  Small  Landholders  Party  on 
February  26,  1947.  Kovacs  was  arrested  by  the  Russians  for  conspiracy 
in  the  "plot"  after  Hungarian  Communists  failed  in  their  attempt  to 
get  a  waiver  of  Kovacs'  parliamentary  immunity.  On  the  basis  of  an 
alleged  confession  by  Kovacs,  whom  the  Russians  continued  to  hold,  the 
Russian  military  governor  in  May,  1947,  brought  conspiracy  charges 
against  the  Hungarian  Premier,  Ferenc  Nagy,  the  Foreign  Minister,  and 
the  Speaker  of  the  House,  all  members  of  the  Small  Landholders  Party, 
as  well  as  most  of  the  prominent  bankers,  businessmen,  and  industrialists, 
in  fact,  virtually  all  of  the  leading  capitalists  of  Hungary.  Premier 
Nagy's  secretary  was  arrested  on  May  30,  and  Nagy,  who  was  visiting 
in  Switzerland,  refused  to  return  to  Hungary  and  certain  arrest  by  the 
Russians.  The  government  that  emerged  from  this  violent  crisis  on  May 
31,  1947,  was  completely  controlled  by  the  Communists. 

Nagy  condemned  the  "Russian-Communist  conspiracy"  against  his 
Government  in  a  statement  issued  on  June  17,  1947,  in  which  he  said  s 

As  a  result  of  the  direct  intervention  of  the  Soviet  Union  *  *  *  I  was  ousted 
from  my  office,  and  a  new  government  was  imposed  upon  the  Hungarian  people.  *   *   * 

I  protest  again  the  aggression  to  which  my  country  has  fallen  victim.  *  *  * 

After  the  Communist  seizure  of  control  of  Hungary,  which  was 
denounced  in  official  United  States  notes  as  a  minority  nullification  of  the 
will  of  the  majority,  the  Communists  proceeded  on  a  campaign  to  destroy 
minor  opposition  within  Hungary. 

As  of  March,  1948,  only  one  opposition  party  was  left  in  Hungary 
and  that  was  being  threatened  with  extinction  by  the  Communists.  A 
New  York  Times  correspondent  reported  on  February  21st  that : 

The  Hungarian  Socialist  party  having  been  virtually  absorbed  by  the  Commu- 
nists through  the  forced  resignation  of  20  of  its  conservative  leaders,  the  expulsion 
of  five  others,  and  the  arrest  of  one  of  its  cabinet  ministers,  Istvan  Barankovics' 
People's  Democratic  Party  is  reliably  reported  here  to  be  next  on  the  list  to  walk  the 
plank.  It  is  the  only  opposition  party  left  in  Hungary. 

*  *  *  already  several  officials  of  his  (Barankovics')  party  have  been  arrested 
or  attacked  on  one  charge  or  another  and  this  week  the  party  as  a  whole  was  threatened 
by  the  Minister  of  the  Interior.  *  *  *   {New  York  Times,  February  22,  1948,  p.  2.) 

The  force  and  violence  of  the  Communists  in  seizing  control  of 
Hungary  has  been  vividly  described  by  Ferenc  Nagy,  the  Hungarian 
Premier  ousted  by  the  Communists.  Testifying  before  the  Committee  on 


UN-AMEKICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  115 

Un-American  Activities  on  February  6,  1948,  Nagy  related  the  follow- 
ing Communist  tactics  which  he  said  were  duplicated  in  the  seizure  of 
Bulgaria,  Rumania,  and  Yugoslavia : 

*  *  *  Communism  acquired  au  entering  wedge  *  *  *  with  the  assistance  of 
the  Soviet  occupation  forces.  This  process  generally  begins  with  large-scale  looting 
by  the  Soviet  armies,  with  the  mass  violation  of  women,  and  with  other  manifesta- 
tions of  brutality.  The  public  becomes  terrorized  ;  it  becomes  incapable  of  self-defense  ; 
political  resistance  comes  to  a  halt.  *  *  * 

The  Soviet  military  commanders  put  those  designated  by  the  Communists  into 
the  key  jobs  in  the  cities,  in  government  offices,  and  in  the  business  enterprises.  *   *   * 

The  political  police  is  organized  on  Soviet  instruction.  The  majority  of  the  old 
police  personnel  is  dismissed.  Those  police  who  in  the  past  had  the  misfortune  of 
encountering  Communists  in  the  performance  of  their  official  duties  are  put  behind 
bars  and  most  often  executed.  The  new  police  is  made  up  of  jailbirds,  of  men  with 
police  records,  and  of  Communists  who  survived  illegally  under  past  regimes.  They 
begin  their  new  assignment  with  looting,  and  with  persecuting  and  killing  innocent 
people.  They  develop  the  persecution  of  innocent  people  to  a  high  art.  They  create 
concentration  camps  where  they  collect  those  who  might  resist  Communist  expansion. 
They  employ  newly  developed  inquisition  techniques  against  those  who  do  not  confess 
to  the  crimes  with  which  they  are  charged  and  against  those  unwilling  to  incriminate 
unjustly  others  still  at  liberty. 

The  political  police  is  a  special  branch  of  the  police  vested  with  extraordinary 
authority  and  very  quickly  develops  into  the  terror  of  the  country.  *   *   * 

They  teach  the  workers  to  exercise  mass  power ;  they  teach  them  to  demon- 
strate. Those  of  you  living  in  a  free  and  orderly  country  cannot  conceive  the  effect  of 
some  tens  of  thousands  of  workers  marching  the  streets  in  disorder  and  threatening 
some  cabinet  minister,  judge,  or  public  official  with  removal  if  he  denies  their  demands. 
The  government  is  helpless  against  such  mass  demonstrators  because  force  cannot 
be  used  against  them,  since  the  police  and  the  army  are  in  the  hands  of  the  very  same 
group  which  incites  the  workers  to  violence.  If  there  should  chance  to  be  a  man  in 
the  government  who  resists  their  demands,  they  respond  with  an  outbreak  of  strikes 
and  with  production  stoppages  leading  to  economic  disintegration.  *  *  * 

(After  a  rigged  ejection)  the  Communistic  screw  is  given  a  couple  more  turns. 
They  remove  from  the  government  those  men  whom  the  public  has  hitherto  trusted 
and  replace  them  with  their  own  men.  If  perchance  some  member  of  the  government 
is  so  popular  that  he  cannot  be  removed  summarily  means  are  found  to  implicate  him 
in  a  conspiracy.  The  political  police  discover  that  a  group  of  men  is  involved  in  a 
conspiracy  against  the  new  order.  They  arrest  a  number  of  them.  With  the  aid  of 
modern  inquisition  techniques,  they  secure  confessions  which  incriminate  not  only 
those  arrested  but  a  number  of  public  officials,  high-ranking  military  men,  or  some 
political  leaders  as  well.  These  are  then  arrested  by  the  political  police.  Some  are 
usually  charged  with  espionage,  which  provides  a  pretext  for  their  being  carried  off 
by  the  Soviets.  *  *   * 

Communism  achieved  its  results  in  eastern  Europe  with  the  assistance  of  Soviet 
arms.  *  *  *  (Hearings  before  the  Subcommittee  on  Legislation  of  the  Committee  on 
Un-American  Activities,  February  5,  1948,  pp.  88-92.) 

The  former  Hungarian  leader  has  also  been  outspoken  in  his  con- 
viction that  there  is  a  Moscow-directed  international  conspiracy  for 
Communist  world  domination.  As  he  told  the  Committee  on  Un-Amer- 
ican Activities : 

There  can  no  longer  be  any  doubt  that  under  Soviet  leadership  the  purpose  of 
communism  is  world  domination.  What  we  are  confronted  with  here  is  not  Soviet 
assistance  in  the  domestic  programs  of  the  Communist  Parties  in  various  countries ; 
rather,  we  are  confronted  with  Soviet  directives,  motivated  by  foreign  policy  objec- 
tives, to  Communist  Parties  in  individual  countries  for  the  purpose  of  disrupting  the 
established  order.  *  *  * 

It  is  necessary  to  keep  clearly  in  mind  that  every  Communist  Party  in  tin'  world 
is  under  Soviet  direction.  *  *  *   (Ibid.,  pp.  87  and  92.) 


116  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

U.  S.  Communists  and  Hungary 

To  the  American  Communists,  however,  the  Russian  and  Hungarian 
Communists  could  do  no  wrong.  The  non-Communist  Hungarian  leaders 
were  Fascist  conspirators  and  the  Hungarian  Communists  were  saviors 
of  democracy,  according  to  propaganda  issued  by  the  American  puppet 
party.  It  described  Ferenc  Nagy,  the  former  Hungarian  premier,  as  a 
Fascist  with  a  ' '  long  history  of  scheming  against  the  Hungarian  people, ' ' 
and  recommended  that  he  ' '  should  be  deported  back  to  Hungary  where 
a  people's  court  will  mete  out  justice  to  these  pogrom  makers  and 
traitors."  (Daily  Worker,  October  4,  1947,  p.  6.) 

After  the  final  coup  which  gave  Communists  a  strangle  hold  on 
Hungary,  the  American  Communists'  official  organ,  the  Daily  Worker, 
published  a  story  called  "What's  Behind  the  Hungary  'Crisis',"  which 
said  that  the  Hungarian  coup  was  "manufactured  out  of  the  whole 
cloth  by  the  State  Department  and  the  press"  in  order  to  help  railroad 
through  anti-labor  and  anti-rent-control  legislation  in  the  United  States. 

"There  is  clear  evidence  of  unconstitutional  activities  by  the 
deposed  Hungarian  officials,"  the  Daily  Worker  stated  flatly  on  June 
7,  1947  (p.  2)  ;  this  was  elaborated  upon  on  the  same  day  by  another 
Daily  Worker  story  entitled  "Inside  Story  of  the  Fascist  Plot  in 
Hungary. ' ' 

Indicative  of  the  close  ties  between  the  Communist  Government  of 
Hungary  and  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  is  the  recent  visit  as  an 
honored  guest  of  Louis  Weinstock,  member  of  the  national  committee 
of  the  American  party. 

Although  visitors  from  western  countries  are  not  generally  wel- 
comed, Weinstock  was  permitted  to  stay  three  months. 

In  a  series  of  ecstatic  articles  in  the  Daily  Worker  in  March  1948 
he  hailed  the  ' '  new  freedom  for  ordinary  Hungarians. ' ' 

(E)  Rumania 

Another  victim  of  Communist  terror  tactics  supported  by  a  Red 
Army  of  occupation  is  Rumania.  Although  they  represent  only  between 
5  and  10  percent  of  the  Rumanian  population,  the  Communists,  acting 
as  Moscow's  pawns,  today  have  a  strangling  control  over  this  Balkan 
State.  These  Communists  also  have  the  constant  "moral"  support  of 
Russian  troops,  estimated  in  November  1947  as  being  between  100,000 
and  150,000  strong. 

This  Communist  control  was  achieved  by  outrages  against  the  Ruma- 
nian people  that  began  as  soon  as  the  country  was  liberated  from  the  Axis 
by  the  Russians.  The  outrages  proceeded  despite  note  after  note  of  pro- 
test from  the  American  Government. 

The  direct  role  that  the  Soviet  Union  played  in  establishing  the 
Rumanian  Communist  dictatorship  was  illustrated  by  the  demand  from 
Soviet  Deputy  Foreign  Minister  Andrei  Vishinsky  that  King  Michael 
of  Rumania  dismiss  the  Radescu  government  and  install  the  Communist 
puppet  Petru  Groza  as  premier.  The  King  followed  Vishinsky 's  orders 
on  March  2,  1945,  when  he  was  told  that  failure  to  do  so  would  be  con- 
sidered a  hostile  act  by  his  government.  (I  Saw  Poland  Betrayed,  Arthur 
Bliss  Lane,  Bobbs-Merrill  Co.,  1948.) 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  117 

The  abdication  of  the  king  himself  was  forced  by  the  Communists 
on  December  30,  1947.  New  York  Times  Correspondent  W.  H.  Lawrence, 
reporting  from  Bucharest,  Rumania,  on  the  following  day,  stated  : 

*  *  *  what  had  been  announced  as  the  voluntary  abdication  of  young 
King  Michael  was  in  fact  a  cold-blooded  Communist-dictated  coup  d'etat  against  the 
monarchy.   *  *   * 

Reports  of  police  intimidation  and  arrest  of  non-Communists  for 
purely  political  reasons  were  as  numerous  from  Rumania  as  from  the 
other  Balkan  satellites  already  discussed. 

American  officials  in  Rumania  have  not  been  free  from  this  Com- 
munist police  terror.  Senator  William  F.  Knowland,  of  California, 
reported  after  a  visit  to  Europe  that  a  secretary  of  the  American  Lega- 
tion had  been  searched  at  gun  point  by  police  on  November  4,  1947 ;  that 
the  chauffeur  of  a  United  States  Army  sergeant  was  assaulted  by  two 
men  in  civilian  clothes  on  June  28,  1947 ;  and  that  the  homes  of  three 
officers  on  the  United  States  military  staff  had  been  searched  by  secret 
police.  (Washington  Evening  Star,  December  9,  1947.) 

The  close  interlocking  of  the  Rumanian  dictatorship  with  the  Soviet 
Union  is  indicated  by  a  speech  delivered  in  Bucharest  on  December  19, 
1948,  by  Yugoslavia's  Marshal  Tito,  who  declared  that  the  Danubian 
Federation,  including  Poland  and  Albania  as  well  as  the  states  bordering 
on  the  Danube,  was  led  by  Premier  Stalin.  The  speeches  of  Marshal  Tito 
and  Rumanian  Premier  Petru  Groza  were  concluded  with  the  cry,  ' '  Long 
live  Generalissimo  Stalin ' '  which  the  crowd  repeated. 

Serving  today  as  Rumania 's  Foreign  Minister  is  Anna  Pauker,  for- 
mer member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  Communist  International. 

The  extent  to  which  the  Workers'  Party  of  Rumania  is  allied  with 
the  Communist  Parties  of  other  countries  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  greet- 
ings were  brought  to  its  congress  held  on  February  21-23,  1948,  by  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Communist  Parties  of  Great  Britain,  Bulgaria,  Hun- 
gary, Poland,  Albania,  Austria,  Belgium,  Greece,  France,  Holland,  Italy, 
Spain,  Yugoslavia,  Czechoslovakia,  and  Palestine. 

V.  8.  Communists  and  Rumania 

As  a  former  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist 
International  it  is  fully  understandable  that  William  Z.  Foster,  present 
chairman  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  should  express  enthusiastic 
endorsement  of  the  Communist  regime  in  Rumania  and  hail  its  ' '  splendid 
democratic  achievements."  (The  New  Europe,  by  William  Z.  Foster 
(International  Publishers,  New  York,  1947),  p.  27.) 

The  Daily  Worker  went  through  the  same  familiar  eulogies  of  the 
Rumanian  Red  regime  in  issue  after  issue. 

(F)  Bulgaria 
The  Government  of  Bulgaria  is  headed  by  Georgi  Dimitrov,  former 
general  secretary  of  the  Communist  International.  Communist-rigged 
elections  to  the  Bulgarian  National  Assembly  held  on  October  27,  1946, 
showed  the  Communists  as  receiving  2,262,321  votes  out  of  a  total  of 
4,188,276.  Vassil  Kolarov,  former  member  of  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  Communist  International,  acted  as  speaker  of  the  Parliament  and 
acted  as  Provisional  President  following  the  plebiscite  of  September  8, 
1946,  which  ousted  the  King  and  established  a  so-called  republic, 


118  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

The  terroristic  character  of  the  present  Bulgarian  Government  is 
most  clearly  displayed  by  the  warning  of  Premier  Dimitrov  to  his  par- 
liamentary opposition,  following  the  hanging  of  Nikola  Petkov,  oppo- 
sition Agrarian  leader,  on  September  23,  1947.  Attacking  the  Social 
Democrats  for  criticizing  the  budget,  Mr.  Dimitrov  threatened  them  with 
the  fate  of  Petkov  and  the  Agrarian  Party  as  follows : 

They  broke  their  heads,  and  their  leader  is  under  the  ground.  Think  this  over 
and  do  not  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  your  allies,  foreign  agents  and  Bulgarian  enemies. 
If  you  are  not  wiser,  you  will  get  from  the  nation  such  a  lesson  as  you  will  remember 
as  far  as  St.  Peter.  (Neiv  York  Times,  January  14,  1948,  p.  1.) 

Referring  to  the  trial  of  Petkov,  the  United  States  Department  of 
State  declared  that  it — 

constituted  but  one  of  a  series  of  measures  undertaken  by  the  Communist-dominated 
Fatherland  Front  government  to  remove  from  the  Bulgarian  scene  all  save  a  purely 
nominal  opposition  and  to  consolidate,  despite  its  professions  to  the  contrary,  a 
totalitarian  form  of  government. 

Mr.  Petkov  had  charged  that  the  Fatherland  Front  government  was 
subjecting  the  opposition  to  beatings  and  killings.  The  State  Department 
charged  that  two  defense  attorneys  were  seized  by  the  militia. 

In  an  article  appearing  in  the  Washington  Evening  Star  for  Septem- 
ber 22,  1947,  page  A-7,  Constantine  Brown  disclosed  the  role  played  by 
Soviet  military  forces  in  Bulgaria.  He  estimated  that  the  Soviet  army 
of  occupation  which  had  been  reduced  to  100,000  had  been  increased  in 
the  last  two  months  "to  a  high  of  185,000  men  provided  with  the  latest 
equipment." 

Testifying  before  the  House  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities 
on  February  19,  1948,  Mr.  George  M.  Dimitrov,  former  general  secre- 
tary of  the  Bulgarian  Agrarian  Party,  who,  although  having  the  same 
name,  is  in  no  way  related  to  the  Communist  premier,  described  the  orgy 
of  violence  which  has  swept  his  unhappy  country  under  the  Communists. 

With  the  active  cooperation  of  the  Soviets  and  their  army,  the  Communists  in 
Bulgaria  grabbed  on  that  date  the  police  and  the  dispensation  of  justice  in  their 
hands,  and,  through  their  political  commissars,  established  their  control  over  the 
army.  A  little  later  and  in  the  same  manner,  they  took  over  the  Nation's  education, 
finances,  et  cetera,  and  today  they  are  putting  the  finishing  touches  to  the  complete 
sovietization  of  the  country  and  the  entrenchment  of  the  dictatorship  of  the  Communist 
Party.  *   *  * 

Without  the  knowledge  of  the  non-Communist  organizations  within  the  Gov- 
ernment and  even  without  the  knowledge  of  the  non-Communist  members  in  the 
Cabinet,  the  Communists  arrested  and  killed  off  without  trial  over  50,000  Bulgarian 
citizens.  Arrests  have  been  more  than  two  or  three  hundred  thousand.  By  means  of 
the  so-called  people's  courts,  they  brought  to  trial  another  eight  to  ten  thousand 
persons,  of  whom  over  two  thousand  were  sentenced  to  death  and  executed  within  24 
hours,  while  the  bulk  of  the  others  have  since  been  rotting  and  dying  in  prison  cells, 
concentration  camps,  and  the  so-called  "labor-educational  communities,"  which  are 
actually  designed  for  slaves  in  the  Soviet  manner.  *   *   * 

The  dissolution  and  the  final  liquidation  of  all  non-Communist  political  organiza- 
tions started  by  threats,  arrests,  and  beatings  of  their  more  active  members.  Having 
once  shaken  them  sufficiently,  they  were  officially  dissolved,  their  leaders  and  more 
prominent  members  thrown  in  jail,  others  were  tried  on  fabricated  charges,  while  many 
thousands  of  smaller  men  were  deprived  of  their  freedom  even  without  the  formality 
of  going  through  a  trial.  *   *   * 

The  lives,  the  liberties,  and  the  property  of  all  Bulgarian  citizens  today  are  in 
the  hands  and  at  the  mercy  of  an  irresponsible  minority,  which  tries  to  play  with 
them  in  the  Soviet  manner,  known  for  its  diverse  methods  of  inquisition,  concentration, 
and  slave-labor  camps.  And  today,  when  I  speak  to  you  here  in  this  hall  before  this 
committee,  whose  activities  are  under  the  control  of  the  free  citizens  of  your  country, 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  119 

far  away  there  in  my  little  but  beautiful  land,  thousands  upon  thousands  of  hard- 
working, freedom-loving,  and  proud  people  are  slowly  rotting  in  their  prison  cells  and 
concentration  camps,  many  of  them  dying  daily  as  a  result  of  torture  or  outright  execu- 
tion. *  *  * 

The  most  influential  body  in  the  provinces  is  the  militia.  It  is  largely  self-directed 
and  is  often  above  the  Government  and  laws.  It  dictates  to  many  Government  officials, 
makes  its  own  rules,  and  often  tells  courts  what  sentences  to  pronounce.  There  is  no 
state  institution  or  Government  department,  not  even  the  army,  that  can  control  the 
militia  in  some  parts  of  the  country.  In  many  of  the  provinces  it  is  master,  taking 
what  it  pleases,  dispossessing  whom  it  pleases,  physically  eliminating  Bulgarian  citi- 
zens according  to  its  will.  It  and  the  people's  courts  have  killed  no  fewer  than  12,000 
Bulgarians,  mostly  ordinary,  independent,  solid  community  leaders,  along  with  a  few 
war  criminals  and  Fascists.  The  militiamen  are  heavily  armed,  most  of  the  leaders  had 
long  been  subversive,  working  as  rebels  against  previous  governments,  and  some  are 
ordinary  bandits.  Brigands  can  with  impunity  rob  Bulgarians  in  the  name  of  the  new 
order  and  "for  the  good  of  the  common  people  *  *  *." 

U.  S.  Communists  and  Bulgaria 

Despite  the  fact  that  world  opinion  generally  condemned  the  Com- 
munist regime  in  Bulgaria,  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  was  unhesi- 
tatingly enthusiastic  in  its  acclaim.  William  Z.  Foster,  chairman  of  the 
CPUS  A,  paid  tribute  to  the  "splendid  democratic  achievements"  of 
Bulgaria  and  lauded  Georgi  Dimitrov  (not  to  be  confused  with  the 
Agrarian  Party  leader)  as  one  member  of  the  "most  brilliant  and  effec- 
tive body  of  statesmen  in  continental  Europe  today."  (The  New  Europe, 
by  William  Z.  Foster  (International  Publishers,  New  York,  1947),  pp. 
27  and  38.) 

The  official  Communist  press  in  the  United  States  has  been  quick  to 
resent  any  criticism  of  what  is  going  on  in  Bulgaria.  The  Daily  Worker 
of  June  6,  1947,  page  6,  printed  an  article  by  its  Washington  correspond- 
ent, Rob  F.  Hall,  which  denounced  an  article  in  Life  magazine  for  May 
12  because — 

The  struggle  of  the  Balkan  peoples  to  establish  a  new  democratic  life  after  centuries 
of  oppression  is  misrepresented  as  "spreading  Soviet  control"  behind  the  so-called  iron 
curtain.  *  *  *  But  so  highly  developed  is  the  art  of  deceit  among  Mr.  Luce's  writers 
that  from  such  inspiring  material  they  contrived  a  sordid  story  of  dictatorship,  repres- 
sion, and  unrest. 

Rob  Hall  then  recounts  his  interview  with  Nissim  Mevorah,  representa- 
tive of  the  Bulgarian  Government  in  the  United  Nations  investigation 
of  the  Greek-Bulgarian-Yugoslav  border  dispute,  which  puts  Bulgarian 
life  in  a  high  favorable  light.  Hall  quotes  Mevorah  as  saying : 

We  find  it  hard  to  understand,  therefore,  why  the  United  States  Government 
should  now  show  hostility  to  us  in  our  efforts  to  apply  in  our  own  country  the  Ameri- 
can principles  of  freedom  and  democracy. 

(G)  Poland 

The  Red  Army  attacked  Poland  on  September  17,  1939.  A  provi- 
sional government  was  formed  on  June  23,  1945,  including  members  of 
the  non-Communist  government-in-exile  and  the  so-called  Lublin  or 
Communist-dominated  government. 

On  January  19,  1947,  a  Communist-Socialist  bloc  elected  394  mem- 
bers of  the  Sejm  (parliament)  out  of  a  total  of  444  seats  in  a  rigged 
election.  Boleslaw  Bierut,  former  official  of  the  Communist  International 
and  a  leading  member  of  the  Polish  Communist  Party,  was  elected 
President. 


120  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

Stanislaw  Mikolajczyk,  former  Polish  Prime  Minister  and  Peasant 
Party  leader,  was  recalled  to  Warsaw  in  June,  1945,  to  assume  the  post 
of  Vice  Premier.  After  the  elections  of  May,  1947,  the  Polish  Govern- 
ment initiated  a  series  of  purges  of  all  anti-Communist  elements  and 
today  the  Communist  Party  exercises  complete  control  of  that  unhappy 
country.  We  cite  herewith  excerpts  from  a  series  of  articles  by  Mr. 
Mikolajczyk  in  the  Washington  Times-Herald,  January  12  to  31,  1948, 
describing  from  first-hand  knowledge  the  terrorist  methods  of  the  Rus- 
sians in  Poland  in  the  Polish  Communist-dominated  Government  itself. 

Mikolajczyk  is  another  anti- Communist  official,  who  was  forced  to 
flee  his  native  land  to  escape  murder  by  the  Reds. 

Murder  of  Leaders 

It  would  have  been  comparatively  simple  for  me  to  die  in  Poland.  It  would  have 
climaxed  the  murders  of  104  Peasant  Party  leaders  and  the  cynical  confiscation  and 
destruction  of  the  party's  various  headquarters.  *  *  * 

Arresting,  Shooting,  and  Deporting 

Inside  Poland,  the  Russians  were  arresting,  shooting  and  deporting  thousands 
of  members  of  the  home  army  and  the  underground — with  the  servile  agreement  of 
the  Communist  Lublin  government  (1945).  *  *  * 

Looting 

Russia  was  dismantling  and  shipping  to  the  U.  S.  S.  R.  a  great  number  of 
Polish  factories.  It  was  also  looting,  burning  villages  whose  people  were  reluctaut 
to  collaborate,  and  removing  our  livestock  and  other  effects.  *   *   * 

Let  me  summarize  in  the  briefest  possible  manner  the  subsequent  Communist 
campaign  against  the  Polish  Peasant  Party  : 

The  security  police  killed  our  general  secretary,  Boleslaw  Scibiorek.  Then  a 
year  later  and  on  the  eve  of  the  fixed  election,  they  started  a  "trial"  in  which  they 
attempted  to  prove  that  we  ourselves  had  ordered  the  illegal  Polish  underground  to 
murder  Scibiorek.  *  *  * 

Burning  of  Villages 

At  least  seven  whole  Polish  villages  were  burned  to  the  ground  because  their 
people  refused  to  become  Communists.  No  one  can  estimate  the  number  of  houses 
burned  in  other  cities  and  villages  and  the  value  of  the  properties  confiscated.  *  *  * 

Murder  and  Torture 

Security  police  stations  became  torture  houses  for  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
Poles  arrested  for  believing  in  the  lofty  precepts  laid  down  by  the  Americans  and 
British  and  agreed  to  by  Stalin.  Untold  thousands  were  murdered  in  these  horror 
chambers  and  hundreds  of  their  bodies  have  been  discovered  in  the  grounds  around 
such  police  stations  as  those  in  Kepno,  in  the  province  of  Poznan,  and  Bochnia,  in 
Krakow  province.  *   *   * 

When  Madam  Chorazyna,  our  MP,  rose  in  parliament  to  speak  of  the  freedom 
of  the  press  which  had  been  guaranteed  us,  her  speech  was  censored  and  2  hours 
later  she  barely  escaped  death,  along  with  her  son,  when  a  barrage  of  bullets  crashed 
through  the  windows  of  her  home.  *  *  * 

Police  State 

When  the  reign  of  terror  in  Poland  became  known  to  the  outside  world,  Presi- 
dent Truman  and  Foreign  Minister  Bevin  were  among  those  who  frankly  called 
Poland  a  police  state. 

I  cannot  deal  here  and  now  with  the  tortures  our  people  underwent  during  efforts 
to  make  them  renounce  the  party.  Many  of  these  tortures  are  too  vile  to  display  even 
in  the  free  press.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  sadism  of  Nazi  executioners  were  equaled 
and  often  surpassed  by  security  police  trained  by  the  NKVD. 

In  the  weeks  before  the  election  more  than  100,000  Poles  were  arrested  by  the 
security  police.  They  were  kept,  half  clothed  or  naked,  for  days  in  frigid  open  fields 
for  refusing  to  withdraw  their  names  from  lists  proposing  Polish  Peasant  Party 
candidates  for  office.  *  *  * 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  121 

Imprisonment  of  Candidates 

One  hundred  and  forty-two  of  our  candidates  were  kept  in  prison  throughout  the 
normal  campaign  period  before  the  election.  One  of  these,  Mr.  Szygula,  a  farmer  in 
Silesia,  was  tortured  to  death  in  prison.  *   *   * 

Terroristic  Program 

Security  police  officially  killed  126  members  of  our  party  during  this  reign  of 
terror  before  the  election.  Military  units  were  created  and  sent  to  the  villages  to  lend 
armed  force  to  the  Communists.  These  units  were  commanded  and  their  terroristic 
program  outlined  by  Gen.  Korczyc,  a  Russian  general  who  is  now  chief  of  staff  of 
the  Polish  Army.  *   *   * 

At  the  closing  of  the  polls  the  commissioners — acting  on  orders  enforced  by  the 
presence  of  the  security  police — systematically  burned  all  those  Polish  Peasant  Party 
ballots  in  excess  of  10  percent. 

A  spy  was  placed  in  nearly  every  house  to  report  conversations,  and  as  a  result 
of  this  tactic  many  innocent  Poles  have  been  sentenced  to  5  years  in  jail  for  spreading 
false  rumors.  *   *   * 

The  Polish  Army  numbers  150,000  men.  At  first,  10,000  of  its  officers  were  Red 
Army  men.  This  has  been  reduced  to  3,000.  All  important  positions  from  chief  of  staff 
down  through  the  echelons  are  held  by  Russian  officers  who  have  been  ordered  to 
become  Polish  citizens.  Few  Poles  are  permitted  in  the  Polish  air  force.  It  is  com- 
pletely controlled  by  Russians.  *   *   * 

The  great  scourge  of  the  Polish  people,  the  security  police,  numbers  230,000  men 
officially.  Communist  gangs  are  armed  on  the  pretext  that  they  are  "voluntary  help 
police,"  (the  ORMO).  *   *  * 

Police  State 

NKVD  men  are  stationed  in  every  security  police  office  as  "advisers."  They  are, 
of  course,  part  of  the  organization  which  also  polices  Yugoslavia,  Bulgaria,  Rumania, 
Czechoslovakia,  Hungary,  and  the  Soviet  occupation  zone  of  Germany.  In  this  way 
eastern  Europe  has  become  one  vast  police  state  under  a  single  control.  Poland's 
independent  political  parties  have  been  exterminated.  Its  economic  and  social  life 
has  been  sovietized.  Its  champions  of  independence  have  been  liquidated  or  silenced  by 
torture. 

Red  Army 

A  Russian  colonel  told  me :  "Our  men  prepare  the  way  for  us  in  France  and 
Italy,  and  they  hope  to  bring  about  changes  in  the  government  there  so  that  the  Red 
Army  will  not  be  forced  to  march  in.  But  even  if  they  fail,  there  are  plans  for  the  army 
to  move  into  those  lands. 

1 '  I  SAW  POLAND  BETRAYED ' ' 

Arthur  Bliss  Lane  has  been  a  distinguished  member  of  the  United 
States  diplomatic  corps  since  1916.  He  has  served  in  Italy,  Poland, 
England,  Switzerland,  Mexico,  Nicaragua,  Estonia,  Latvia,  Lithuania, 
Colombia,  and  Costa  Rica.  He  was  Ambassador  to  the  Polish  Government 
from  1945  to  1947. 

He  described  the  situation  in  Poland  in  his  recent  book  entitled 
FT  Saw  Poland  Betrayed"  (Bobbs-Merrill  Co.,  Indianapolis,  1948).  His 
analysis  fully  corroborates  the  account  of  Mr.  Mikolajczyk  and  gives  the 
lie  to  any  Communist  claims  about  relinquishment  of  methods  of  force 
and  violence.  We  quote  his  work  in  part : 

Forcible  Deportation 

A  basic  tenet  of  Soviet  policy  is  the  eradication  of  all  truly  nationalistic  elements 
in  areas  under  Soviet  control.  This  explains  the  forcible  deportation  to  Siberia  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  Polos  after  the  occupation  of  eastern  Poland  in  September 
1939.  The  same  policy  has  been  responsible  for  the  liquidation,  physical  or  political, 
of  nationalist  elements  in  Hungary,  Bulgaria,  Austria  and  Yugoslavia  (p.  38). 

But  there  was  one  group  in  Poland  about  which  nothing  was  officially  said. 
It  was  generally  known,  however,  that  this  group,  which  corresponded  to  the  Politburo 
in  the  Soviet  Union,  acted  under  the  direction  of  the  Kremlin  and  was  the  controlling 
force  in  Poland  (p.  113). 


122  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

Kidnaping  and  Torture  of  Leaders 

But  on  June  19,  4  days  after  their  arrival,  the  trial  of  the  16  arrested  Polish 
leaders  was  begun  in  Moscow.  I  was  to  learn  that  the  16  had  been  taken  to  Moscow 
by  airplane,  thinking  they  were  proceeding  to  London ;  that  the  plane  had  landed  in 
the  snow  in  a  field  many  miles  from  Moscow,  in  the  wintry  weather  at  the  end  of 
March ;  that  they  had  been  taken  to  the  Lubianka  Prison,  in  Moscow,  where  each  had 
been  placed  in  solitary  confinement.  During  their  imprisonment  they  had  been  sub- 
jected to  continual  exposure,  night  and  day,  to  glaring  electric  light,  preventing  rest 
and  sleep.  Questioned  and  requestioned  under  this  mental  torture  for  weeks,  they 
finally  admitted  to  the  charges  and  readily  confessed  them  when  interrogated  publicly 
by  the  prosecutor.  It  was  a  repetition  of  the  technique  employed  in  the  Moscow  trials 
of  1937 — a  technique  now  in  use  in  all  Soviet-dominated  nations  (pp.  116  and  117). 

Terrorist  Methods 

During  our  early  days  in  Warsaw  even  the  word  of  our  Polish  friends  was  not 
needed  to  convince  us  of  the  terrorist  methods  employed  by  the  Soviet  Army  and  secret 
police  (p.  161). 

Secret  Arrests 

In  addition  to  the  terror  created  in  Poland  by  the  returning  Red  Army,  the 
newly  formed  Polish  Security  Police — Urzad  Bezpieczenstwa,  colloquially  known  as 
UB — was  making  itself  unpleasantly  known.  Like  the  NKVD,  the  Russian  counter- 
part, the  members  of  the  UB  were  distinguished  by  blue  collar  tabs  and  hat  bands. 
Many  an  arrest  by  these  uniformed  agents  was  witnessed  by  members  of  the  American 
Embassy  on  the  streets  of  Warsaw  during  those  early  days.  Later,  more  subtle  and 
terrifying  methods  were  employed,  such  as  arrests  in  the  middle  of  the  night ;  and 
the  person  arrested  generally  was  not  permitted  to  communicate  with  the  outside  world, 
perhaps  for  months,  perhaps  for  all  time   (p.  162). 

Soviet  Instruction 

Mr.  Stanislaw  Radkiewicz,  Minister  of  Public  Security,  frankly  admitted  that 
the  Russians  had  lent  him  200  NKVD  instructors,  who  would  organize  the  Polish 
Security  Police  along  Soviet  lines   (p.  166). 

Police  State 

All  gave  me  information  confirming  the  opinion  which  we  had  already  formed 
from  our  2  months  in  Poland :  Poland  was  a  police  state  governed  by  the  Kremlin. 
I  was  everywhere  assured  that  not  more  than  5  percent  of  the  people  supported  the 
provisional  government.  The  Peasant  Party  and  the  Christian  Labor  Party  together 
represented  over  80  percent  of  the  electorate.  Anyone  not  supporting  the  Government 
was  in  danger  of  arrest,  I  was  told.  Former  members  of  the  underground  were  par- 
ticularly vulnerable  (p.  184). 

Police  Violence — Political   Murders 

But  the  pressure  which  was  being  exerted  on  Mikolajczyk  was  not  merely 
verbal.  Two  members  of  his  party  had  suffered  violence  at  the  hands  of  the  security 
police ;  one  Kojder  had  mysteriously  disappeared,  despite  the  efforts  of  the  Ministry 
of  Public  Adiminstration  to  ascertain  his  fate ;  Scibiorek,  another  leader,  had  been 
killed  in  Lodz  because  he  had  insisted  on  remaining  loyal  to  Mikolajczyk.  Later,  the 
Government  was  to  charge  that  Scibiorek  was  killed  by  his  own  party.  The  United 
States  Government  was  so  provoked  by  these  political  murders,  flouting  the  spirit  of 
the  Yalta  decision,  that  Secretary  Byrnes  gave  the  press  a  statement  bitterly  denounc- 
ing the  outrages   (p.  191). 

Reign  of  Terror 

From  our  earliest  days  in  Poland  information  kept  pouring  in  to  us,  not  only 
to  me  personally  and  to  the  rest  of  our  staff,  but  to  American  newspaper  corre- 
spondents as  well,  that  a  reign  of  terror  was  being  imposed  on  the  Polish  people 
by  the  security  police.  Even  if  we  had  been  so  incredulous  as  to  brush  aside  these 
reports  we  could  not  conscientiously  have  dismissed  the  information  coming  from 
relatives  of  American  citizens  who  were  then  in  prison.  By  February  1946,  84  claimants 
to  American  citizenship  were  in  jail,  almost  all — so  their  relatives  apprised  us — for 
the  "crime"  of  having  once  been  members  of  the  underground  army  clandestinely 
fighting  the  Nazis  (p.  197), 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  123 

Forcible  Detention  in  Concentration  Camps 

We  estimated,  however,  in  1946,  that  over  100,000  Poles  were  being  forcibly 
detained  either  by  Polish  or  Soviet  police  officials.  This  estimate  was  based  on  our 
knowledge  that  large  concentration  camps  constructed  by  the  Nazis  were  still  being 
used  in  Oswiecim,  in  Rembertow  (near  Warsaw),  and  in  Wolow  (Wohlau),  about 
miles  from  Wroclaw,  in  the  zone  under  the  Red  Army  control.  In  addition,  the 
prisons  in  Krakow,  Lublin,  and  Poznan  were  filled  to  capacity  with  political  prisoners 
(p.  209). 

During  the  Christmas  holidays  petitions  were  circulated  by  hand  throughout 
Poland  by  security  police  officials.  These  UB  members  went  from  house  to  house  in 
the  cities  and  villages  endeavoring  to  obtain  the  signatures  of  as  many  voters  as  pos- 
sible indicating  their  support  for  the  candidates  on  the  Government  list.  *   *   * 

We  received  reports  from  the  larger  cities — Krakow,  Poznan,  Gdansk,  Katowice, 
and  Lublin — that  those  persons  who  refused  to  sign  the  manifesto  were  told  they 
would  probably  lose  their  living  quarters  and  their  jobs  unless  they  reconsidered  their 
attitude.  *  *  * 

Physical  Torture 

The  UB  went  farther  than  merely  threatening.  Many  cases  of  physical  torture 
were  reported  to  the  Embassy.  The  UB  were  not  far  behind  the  Gestapo  in  inventing 
refined  brutalities.  We  learned  of  persons  forced  to  remain  during  that  unusually 
cold  winter  in  icy  water  up  to  their  knees  for  2  or  3  whole  days  in  attempts  to  drive 
them  to  sign  the  manifesto.  An  unfortunate  man  stood  this  torture  for  72  hours  rather 
than  agree  to  support  the  Government  ticket.  Gangrene  set  in.  Both  his  feet  were 
amputated  (pp.  279  and  280). 

Terrorism 

I  could  see  no  difference  between  Hitler's  and  Stalin's  aims.  Both  were  after 
world  domination.  I  could  not  see  the  difference,  which  so-called  liberals  in  the  United 
States  often  claim  to  see,  between  the  methods  of  the  two  tyrants.  They  were  exactly 
the  same — suppression  of  personal  liberty  ;  terrorism  by  the  police ;  sickening  propa- 
ganda that  the  totalitarian  state  is  democratic  (p.  288). 

Liquidation  of  Officers 

Surely  the  Soviet  Government  must  be  called  on  to  assume  responsibility  for 
having  deported  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Poles  to  Siberia  during  the  Soviet  occupa- 
tion of  the  territory  east  of  the  Molotov-Ribbentrop  line,  from  1939  until  after  the 
German  attack  upon  the  Soviet  Union  on  June  22,  1941.  This  was  action  calculated 
to  remove  Polish  nationalistic  and  non-Communistic  elements  and  to  extinguish  the 
flower  of  the  Polish  Army.  Even  though  the  Soviet  Government  has  tried  to  avoid 
responsibility  for  the  Katyn  incident,  with  violent  protestations  of  innocence,  the 
accusing  finger  of  public  opinion  in  Poland  is  still  pointed  at  the  Kremlin ;  for  that 
liquidation  of  10,000  Polish  officers  would  be  consistent  with  the  Soviet  policy  of  sys- 
tematically destroying  all  elements  representative  of  Polish  nationalism.  Not  only  were 
the  Nazis  and  the  Soviets  in  agreement  on  the  annihilation  of  the  Polish  state,  but  they 
employed  similar  police  state  measures  to  snuff  out  the  spirit  of  Polish  independence 
(pp.  303  and  304). 

Red  Army  and  NKVD 

Although  it  was  agreed  that  democratic  leaders  from  within  Poland  and  from 
abroad  should  constitute  the  new  provisional  government  of  national  unity,  the  Com- 
munist embryo  of  that  Government-to-be  was  already  functioning  in  Poland,  backed  by 
the  Red  Army  and  by  the  Russian  NKVD.  In  those  circumstances  the  really  demo- 
cratic forces  never  had  a  chance  to  express  themselves  freely  or  to  form  a  government 
clearly  representative  of  the  Polish  people  (pp.  304  and  305). 

Arrests,  Tortures,  Assassinations 

The  arrest  of  the  16  Polish  leaders  and  their  trial  at  Moscow  in  the  spring  of 
1945  was  another  instance,  carried  out  in  defiance  of  Western  public  opinion,  of  the 
Soviet  Government's  determination  to  put  an  end  politically  to  all  Polish  leaders  who 
might  furnish  an  element  of  nationalistic  opposition  to  the  Communist-dominated 
government.  Next,  with  an  efficiency  and  concentration  on  detail  recalling  the  methods 
of  the  Gestapo,  the  NKVD  and  its  Polish  counterpart  organized  the  police  state  so 


124  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

that  all  effective  opposition  would  be  quenched.  Arrests,  tortures,  and  assassinations 
were  as  effective  under  the  Soviet-directed  police  state  as  under  the  Nazi  variety 
(p.  305). 

Soviet-dominated  Armed  Forces 

But  with  the  present  group  in  control,  supported  as  they  are  by  Moscow  and  by 
Soviet-dominated  armed  forces,  the  populace  has  no  chance  to  establish  a  government 
of  its  own  choice  (p.  307). 

We  have  chosen  two  outstanding  and  internationally  known  observ- 
ers and  have  cited  their  accounts  of  the  Communist  regime  in  Poland, 
which  could  be  amplified  at  length  from  many  other  authentic  reports 
which  have  appeared  elsewhere.  "We  have  shown  the  intimate  interrela- 
tion of  the  Soviet  Government  in  the  Polish  picture. 

U.  8.  Communists  and  Poland. 

What  has  been  the  reaction  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  to  this 
brazen  display  of  force  and  violence  ? 

Political  affairs  for  April  1947,  official  theoretical  monthly  organ  of 
the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  has  featured  articles  by  Wladyslaw 
Gomulka,  Vice  Premier  of  Poland  and  general  secretary  of  the  Polish 
Workers'  Party,  which  is  the  Communist  Party  of  Poland,  and  Hilary 
Mine,  Polish  (Communist)  Minister  of  Industry  and  Commerce.  In  view 
of  the  highly  controlled  nature  of  Communist  publications,  this  indicates 
their  close  fraternal  relations  with  the  American  Communist  Party. 

As  late  as  February  27,  1948,  in  the  Daily  Worker,  William  Z.  Fos- 
ter, chairman  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  referred  to  Poland  as 
' '  one  of  the  most  advanced  of  all  the  democracies  in  eastern  Europe ' '  and 
hailed  its  liberation  by  the  Red  Army. 

Numerous  Communist-front  organizations  are  supplementing  this 
support,  including  the  American  Polish  Labor  Council,  the  Polish  Ameri- 
can Trade-Union  Council,  the  American  Slav  Congress,  the  Polonia 
Society,  and  such  Polish  Communist  papers  as  Glos  Ludowy. 

The  National  Council  of  American-Soviet  Friendship,  another  front 
organization,  published  a  pamphlet  entitled  "Inside  Liberated  Poland" 
by  Anna  Louise  Strong,  one-time  editor  of  the  Moscow  News.  The  same 
organization  has  published  another  brochure  called ' '  We  Will  Join  Hands 
With  Russia"  on  Polish-Soviet  relations. 

John  Stuart,  an  editor  of  the  Communist  weekly,  New  Masses,  speaks 
of  the  Communist  regime  in  Poland  as  follows  in  its  issue  of  January 
13,  1948 : 

The  Workers  Party  of  Poland  is  a  brilliant  phenomenon.  The  traveler  feels  its 
prestige  and  influence  everywhere.  Born  out  of  the  war,  it  is  a  new  Communist  Party. 
*  *  *  It  is  in  this  sense  of  people  and  their  needs,  this  immersion  in  masses  of  people, 
that  gives  the  PPR  its  dash  and  imagination  and  makes  it  the  first  party  of  Poland. 

(H)  Yugoslavia 

Communist  leader  Marshal  Joseph  Broz  (Tito)  was  made  Premier 
of  Yugoslavia  on  March  2,  1945.  Its  constitution,  adopted  January  31, 
1946,  closely  resembles  the  Russian  pattern.  Up  to  the  time  of  the  Tito- 
Stalin  split  in  1948,  the  Yugoslav  Communist  Party  was  a  direct  ally  of 
the  Soviet  Party  and  was  supported  and  praised  by  the  U.  S.  Communist 
Party. 

At  the  September,  1947,  conference  of  Communist  parties  held  in 
Poland,  M.  Djilas,  a  former  Comintern  operative,  vice  president  of  the 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  125 

Yugoslav  Presidium  and  head  of  the  dreaded  OZNA,  or  secret  pol!  "\ 
clearly  described  how  the  Yugoslav  Communist  Party  accomplished  its 
successful  armed  uprising : 

Armed  Uprising 

The  Communist  Party  of  Yugoslavia  developed  in  a  difficult  illegal  struggle  in 
an  armed  uprising  and  intensive  work  to  build  and  rehabilitate  our  devastated 
country.  *   *   * 

As  in  every  revolution,  so,  too,  in  the  Yugoslav  revolution,  definite  historical 
circumstances  were  necessary.  I  shall  not  dwell  on  them,  but  I  should  like  to  emphasize 
that,  however  favorable,  such  circumstances  alone,  as  is  generally  known,  are  not 
sufficient  to  insure  the  victory  of  the  working  people  unless  there  is  a  revolutionary, 
well-organized  party,  capable  of  leading  the  people  into  the  struggle.  Such  a  party 
existed  in  Yugoslavia.  *   *   * 

The  Communist  Party  of  Yugoslavia  organized  an  armed  uprising  immediately 
after  the  occupation  of  the  country  as  the  only  effective  form  of  struggle  in  conditions 
of  war.  *  *   * 

The  Communist  Party  of  Yugoslavia  entered  the  war  after  20  years  of 
illegality.  *  *  * 

The  nucleus  of  tlje  Communist  Party  of  Yugoslavia  is  made  up  of  cadres  which 
passed  through  the  stern  school  of  the  uprising  and  the  four  years  of  war.  (For  a 
Lasting  Peace,  For  a  People's  Democracy,  December  1,  1947,  p.  6,  Organ  of  the 
Information  Bureau  of  the  Communist  Parties  in  Belgrade.) 

For  picture  of  violence  and  terror,  we  cite  the  defense  statement  of 
Aloysius  Stepinac,  archbishop  of  Zagreb  and  Catholic  primate  of  Yugo- 
slavia, on  the  occasion  of  his  trial  on  September  30,  1946,  before  the 
so-called  people 's  court  of  that  country.  This  trial  was  characterized  by 
the  New  York  Times  of  October  13,  1946,  as  ' '  clearly  political  with  the 
conviction  foreordained. ' ' 

Priests  Killed 

Between  260  and  270  priests  have  been  killed  by  the  National  Liberation  Front. 

There  exists  no  civilized  country  in  the  world  where  so  many  priests  would  have  been 

put  to  death  for  such  "crimes"  as  you  have  brought  up  against  them.  *   *   * 

You  have  looted  the  seminary  of  all  its  furnishings,  of  all  its  property.  *   *   * 
All  our  Catholic  printing  plants  have  been  taken  away  from  us.  *   *   * 
Buildings  of  some  of  the  religious  in  the  Bachka  have  been  confiscated.  *   *   * 

(My  Conscience  Is  Clear,  by  Aloysius  Stepinac,  pamphlet  No.  8  [Catholic  Information 

Society,  New  York,  1947],  pp.  9,  10,  and  12.) 

On  March  27,  1946,  Harold  Shantz,  American  Charge  d 'Affaires  at 
Belgrade,  delivered  a  note  to  the  Yugoslav  Foreign  Office,  protesting 
against  Soviet  obstruction  to  the  Allied  military  government  in  Venezia 
Giulia.  Venezia  Giulia  is  a  northeastern  Province  of  Italy,  half  of  which, 
including  Trieste,  is  under  joint  American  and  British  occupation,  and 
half  under  Yugoslav  control.  The  note  indicates  typical  Communist 
methods. 

Incitement  to  unrest — Yugoslav  authorities  have  brought  into  zone  A  (Ameri- 
can-British zone)  armed  pro-Slav  groups  from  zone  B  (Yugoslav  zone)  for  pro-Slav 
demonstrations,  such  as  those  at  Gorizia  on  March  2  and  27,  194G,  and  at  Trieste  on 
March  26,  1946.  A  resident  of  zone  B  who  was  arrested  in  Trieste  on  March  26th  for 
carrying  firearms  made  a  voluntary  signed  statement  that  he  and  two  others  had  been 
given  arms  by  zone  B  authorities  and  sent  across  the  Morgan  line  to  demonstrate. 
Other  residents  of  zone  B  arrested  in  Trieste  have  stated  that  they  Avere  warned  to 
participate  in  demonstrations  and  were  furnished  motor  transport  as  far  as  the  Morgan 
line.  Six  shiploads  of  demonstrators  from  zone  B  were  brought  to  Trieste  on  April  2, 
1946,  despite  specific  assurance  that  no  persons  from  zone  B  would  participate. 

Intimidation  of  the  local  population — On  March  10,  1946,  a  known  extremist 
action  squad  leader,  with  10  men,  left  PNOO  headquarters  in  Trieste  and  went  to 
Servola  where  he  directed  a  demonstration.  During  the  general  strike  in  Trieste  on 
March  11,  1946,  action  squads  wearing  a  red  star  compelled  shopkeepers  to  close  their 


126  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

shops.  On  numerous  occasions  action  squads  from  Communist  cultural  clubs  have 
beaten  up  pro-Italians ;  one  such  club  was  raided  on  March  30,  1946,  and  arms  were 
found,  leading  to  the  arrest  of  25  persons. 

Intimidation  of  local  officials — Nine  specific  cases  have  been  reported  in  which 
members  of  civil  police  have  received  threats  to  themselves  or  their  families  in  zone  B 
in  an  attempt  to  induce  them  to  leave  the  force  or  act  as  pro-Slav  agents.  On  March  14, 
1946,  a  delegation  representing  42  Slovene  teachers  requested  Allied  military  govern- 
ment protection  as  they  were  constantly  being  threatened  by  pro-Yugo-slav  elements 
and  feared  abduction,  and  felt  that  they  must  resign  from  their  schools  unless  assured 
of  Allied  military  government  protection. 

Criminal  and  terrorist  activities — Members  of  the  Yugoslav  Army  and  para- 
military organizations  such  as  KNOJ  and  OZNA  have  been  arrested  while  abducting 
civilians  and  engaged  in  other  criminal  acts.  Four  of  these  have  volunteered  signed 
statements  that  they  were  sent  on  their  missions  by  their  superiors  in  Yugoslavia  and 
zone  B. 

As  will  be  evident  from  the  above  instances,  the  Governments  of  the  United 
States  and  the  United  Kingdom  have  been  forced  to  conclude  that  the  provocative 
activities  of  the  PNOO  and  other  pro-Yugoslav  organizations  have  been  encouraged 
and  directed  by  Yugoslav  officials  from  within  Yugoslavia. 

U.  8.  Communists  and  Yugoslavia 

The  Daily  Worker,  official  organ  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A., 
was  most  articulate  in  support  of  the  policy  of  Communist  Marshal  Tito. 
Ella  Winter,  one  of  its  feature  writers,  was  granted  permission  to  visit 
that  country,  although  such  permission  is  not  readily  granted  to  Ameri- 
can writers.  She  was  even  granted  a  personal  interview  by  Tito,  himself, 
whom  she  praised  effusively.  In  this  interview  he  declared  with  Marxist 
clarity:  "We  have  gotten  rid  of  the  whole  old-state  apparatus."  He 
justified  "strong  measures"  against  all  opposition. 

Equally  laudatory  of  the  Communist  regime  in  Yugoslavia  was 
William  Z.  Foster,  present  chairman  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A. 
The  following  comments  were  made  after  his  European  trip  in  1947: 

Properties  Confiscated 

The  new  democracies  in  Yugoslavia,  Poland,  and  other  countries  in  central  and 
eastern  Europe  are  the  result  of  national  democratic  revolutions.  The  essence  of  this 
revolution  is  that  the  peoples  in  these  countries,  during  the  war,  with  the  potent  help 
of  the  Red  Army,  drove  out  the  Fascist  invaders  and  also  smashed  their  own  big 
capitalists  and  landlords  who  almost  unanimously  joined  the  Fascists.  In  these 
struggles  the  old  state's  machinery  was  destroyed  and  the  peoples  built  new  peoples' 
governments  in  their  place,  as  well  as  nationalizing  the  basic  sectors  of  the  industrial 
system.  *   *  * 

Let  the  major  achievements  of  the  progressive  new  Yugoslav  Government  illus- 
trate the  general  trend  in  the  new  democracies.  The  properties  of  the  traitor  capitalists 
have  been  confiscated,  without  compensation.  An  end  has  been  put  to  privately  owned 
monopolies,  cartels,  and  to  so-called  free  enterprise  in  the  basic  economy  of  the  country. 
The  great  landed  estates,  including  the  lands  of  the  churches,  have  been  divided 
up  among  the  peasants.  The  landowners  have  received  no  compensation  for  their 
lands.  *  *  * 

In  the  more  progressive  democracies  on  the  Continent,  however,  the  general 
policy  (not  yet  fully  applied)  regarding  compensation  goes  about  like  this:  The  many 
important  industries  owned  by  the  Germans  are  confiscated  outright,  without  com- 
pensation, and  so  also  are  the  plants  of  native  capitalists  who  collaborated  with  the 
Germans.  As  for  the  big  landed  estates,  the  general  rule  has  been  no  compensation, 
although  in  some  instances  the  church  may  be  paid  for  the  lands  divided  among  the 
peasants.  (The  New  Europe,  by  William  Z.  Foster  (International  Publishers,  New 
York,  1947)  pp.  18,  25,  26,  28,  and  29.) 

Again  in  the  Worker  for  May  18,  1947,  page  2,  Poster  continues  his 
panegyric,  as  follows : 

Yugoslavia  is  now,  next  to  the  Soviet  Union,  the  most  democratic  country  ii 
the  world.  It  has  become  one  of  strong  fortresses  of  international  democracy.  *   *  ' 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  127 

The  epic  struggle  was  led  by  the  National  Liberation  Front,  the  heart  and 
backbone  of  which  was  the  Communist  Party.  At  the  head  of  the  whole  war  movement 
and  of  the  new  Yugoslavia  stands  Marshal  Tito,  a  brillant  Marxist.  *   *   * 

Answering  further  the  general  charges  of  Yugoslavian  dictatorship,  the  marshal 
*  *  *  defends  the  Soviet  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat,  as  having  been  "necessary  in 
the  great  October  revolution,  so  that  the  ideas  of  Marx,  Engels,  Lenin,  and  Stalin 
might  be  put  fully  into  effect.  *   *  *" 

Communist-front  organizations  in  the  United  States  were  actively 
promoting  the  cause  of  Communist  Yugoslavia,  among  them  being  the 
American  Slav  Congress,  the  Croatian  Fraternal  Union,  the  United 
Committee  of  South  Slavic  Americans,  the  International  Workers  Order, 
the  American  Committee  for  Yugoslav  Relief,  and  the  American  Com- 
mittee for  Free  Yugoslavia.  These  efforts  were  supplemented  by  Slobodna 
Reck,  Communist  Serbian  newspaper,  as  well  as  the  Croatian  newspaper, 
Zajednicar. 

After  the  Tito-Stalin  split,  and  the  removal  of  the  Comintern  organ, 
For  A  Lasting  Peace,  for  A  People's  Democracy,  from  Belgrade  to  Buch- 
arest, the  American  Communist  Party  slavishly  and  promptly  swung 
over  in  criticism  and  condemnation  of  Tito  and  the  Yugoslav  Marxists 
and  in  meticulously  subservient  aping  of  the  Moscow  and  Cominform 
anti-Tito  line. 

So  did  all  the  rest  of  the  Communist  Parties  throughout  the  world, 
every  one  acting  promptly  and  simultaneously  to  prove  they  are  agents 
and  tools  of  the  Kremlin  Politburo. 

(I)  Italy 

The  Communist  Party  of  Italy  has  not  yet  realized  its  ambition  of 
taking  over  power  in  that  country.  Its  leader,  Palmireo  Togliatti,  alias 
Ercoli,  former  member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  Communist 
International,  has  time  and  again  threatened  resort  to  force  and  violence, 
in  the  event  that  his  group  is  not  victorious  through  parliamentary  means. 
Speaking  at  the  Sixth  Congress  of  the  Communist  Party  of  Italy  in 
Januarj-  1948,  he  declared: 

We  have  after  all  experience  which  is  much  greater  than  that  which  we  had 
in  1920  and  1923.  We  have  behind  us  the  experience  of  the  partisan  war  and  not  only 
do  we  have  this  experience,  but  tens  of  thousands  of  youths  and  adults  who  have 
learned  to  use  arms  for  the  defense  of  liberty  and  the  independence  of  the  country  and 
who,  if  the  situation  should  arise  in  which,  as  happens  many  times  in  the  course  of 
democratic  revolutions,  liberty  must  be  also  defended  and  reacquired  with  arms,  they 
would  do  everything  in  their  duty  toward  democracy  and  toward  their  fatherland. 

The  phrases  about  "liberty,"  " democracy, "  and  "independence" 
are,  of  course,  simply  Communist  double  talk  for  a  Communist  dictator- 
ship. 

Citing  a  secret  United  States  Army  report  which  has  never  been 
denied,  Drew  Pearson  states  in  the  Washington  Post  for  September  8, 
1947,  page  12 : 

The  United  States  Army  has  discovered  hidden  stores  of  Communists  arms,  and 
an  underground  Italian-Slav  army  ready  to  seize  northern  Italy  as  soon  as  the 
American  Army  evacuates. 

"The  chief  aim  of  insurrectional  action,"  says  the  secret  War  Department  report, 
"is  to  build  a  bridgehead  for  the  Slav  elements  of  the  Emilia-Romagna  region." 

To  further  the  Italian  insurrection  aims,  the  occupation  wedge  would,  by  acts 
of  sabotage  on  highways  and  railways,  ambush,  and  other  guerrilla  tactics,  cut  off 
the  movements  of  the  Allies  in  support  of  the  government  troops  sent  to  crush  the 
insurrection. 


128  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

Having  started  in  the  heart  of  Emilia,  the  movement  would  immediately  extend 
into  the  Veneto  and  the  Liguria  and  gradually  embrace  the  surrounding  regions  (like 
an  oil  spot)  either  through  disorganizing  and  flanking  operations  of  the  militarily  less 
organized  Red  elements  of  those  districts,  or  by  direct  armed  action  aiming  at  a  new 
March  on  Rome  whose  duce  would  be  Longo. 

The  action  is  based  particularly  on  surprise  and  ferocity  in  the  early  hours  so 
as  to  gain  a  few  days  of  insurrectional  autonomy  in  order  to  mobilize. 

Citing  direct  Soviet  aid  given  to  the  Italian  Communists,  the  report  states: 
"The  Russian  officers  residing  at  the  Soviet  repatriation  office  of  Salsomaggiere  are 
the  technical  advisers  of  the  regional  command." 

The  Italian  Communist  Party  is  a  part  of  the  international  pattern 
originally  established  by  the  Communist  International,  to  which  all  sec- 
tions of  this  movement  conform  in  accordance  with  the  particular  stage 
of  development  of  the  movement. 

Reporting  to  the  Sixth  Congress  of  the  Communist  Party  of  Italy, 
held  on  January  4-10,  1948,  which  was  attended  by  fraternal  delegates  of 
Communist  Parties  of  other  countries,  Palmiro  Togliatti  emphasized 
this  fact,  in  the  following  words  : 

Comrades,  representatives  of  the  fraternal  parties,  we  have  known  each  other 
for  a  long  time ;  we  are  veterans  of  many  struggles.  There  is  nothing  in  the  recollec- 
tion of  our  common  past,  of  our  common  work  and  struggle,  when  we  were  united  in 
the  great  proletarian  organization — in  the  Communist  International — of  which  we 
need  feel  ashamed.  On  the  contrary,  we  are  proud  of  our  past.  (For  a  Lasting  Peace, 
for  a  People's  Democracy,  January  15,  1948,  p.  2,  organ  of  the  information  bureau  of 
the  Communist  Parties,  Belgrade.) 

Finally  Togliatti  acknowledged  that  the  principles  and  tactics  of 
the  Communist  Party  of  Italy  are  based  upon  the  teachings  of  Marx, 
Engels,  Lenin,  and  Stalin  and  the  example  of  the  Communist  Party  of 
the  Soviet  Union. 

Marxist-Leninist  Conquest  of  Power 

Marxism-Leninism  contain  the  principles  which  enable  one  to  understand  his- 
tory of  human  development,  why  the  problems  of  building  a  new  society  are  raised 
in  one  form  and  not  another.  In  the  Communist  Manifesto  we  find  the  sources  of  the 
greatest  streams  of  thought  and  action  in  modern  history,  the  culminating  point  of 
which  is  the  great  October  Socialist  revolution,  carried  out  by  the  Communist  Party 
of  the  Bolsheviks,  the  party  which  was  educated  by  Lenin  and  Stalin  in  the  spirit  of 
the  teachings  of  Marx  and  Engels,  in  the  spirit  of  the  Communist  Manifesto.  This 
great  party  was  able,  for  the  first  time  in  history,  to  lead  the  working  class  to  the  con- 
quest of  power,  to  transform  it  into  a  leading  class,  to  lay  the  foundations  of  the  new 
Socialist  society. 

I  can  think  of  no  better  way  of  concluding  this  session  of  our  Congress  than  by 
addressing  ourselves  with  respect  and  gratitude  to  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet 
Union  and  its  leaders  who  were  able  to  make  a  decisive  contribution  to  the  historical 
development  of  mankind  because  they  remained  faithful  to  the  principles  of  Marxism. 
Our  party,  too,  must  be  loyal  to  those  principles  if  it  wishes  to  go  forward  and  develop 
as  a  great  democratic  revolutionary  force.  (Ibid.,  p.  4.) 

V.  8.  Communists  and  Italy 

The  Worker  of  March  30,  1947,  page  9,  official  organ  of  the  Com- 
munist Party,  U.  S.  A.,  displayed  considerable  pride  in  the  achievements 
of  the  Communist  Party  of  Italy  and  praised  Palmiro  Togliatti,  its  secre- 
tary, whom  William  Z.  Foster  has  called  one  of  the  ' '  most  brilliant  and 
effective"  statesmen  in  "continental  Europe  today." 

During  Foster 's  visit  to  Rome,  as  described  in  the  same  issue  of  the 
Worker,  he  was  escorted  about  by  Ambrogio  Donnini,  for  years  an  active 
member  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  and  now  a  prominent  leader 
of  the  Italian  Communists.  Foster  reported  he  felt  that  "Communists 
really  count  in  democratic  Italy." 


"American  liberties  and  freedoms  were  won  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  lives  of 
many  of  our  forefathers.  Subversive  elements  working  in  the  United  States 
today  would  destroy  the  liberties  and  freedom  guaranteed  by  our  Constitution. 
They  would  place  us  under  the  iron  heel  of  dictatorship  along  with  the  other 
millions  of  human  beings  now  suffering  from  oppression.  To  fight  against  this 
is  the  present  duty  of  every  American." 

ASSEMBLY  RELIEF  INVESTIGATING  COMMITTEE  REPORT,  53d  Session 

THE  CALIFORNIA  SITUATION 

California  and  New  York  are  the  two  principal  centers  for  Com- 
munist activity  in  our  Nation.  Our  State  has  been  a  target  for  Communist 
activity  for  more  than  three  decades  and  it  is  confronted  in  1949  with 
an  intensive  Communist  program  of  planned  disruption  and  confusion 
to  fit  the  pattern  of  the  Seventh  Period  of  Communist  Strategy,  which 
has  been  described  in  the  preceding  section,  titled  The  Domestic  Sit- 
uation. 

The  committee  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  California  is  in  a  key 
position  in  national  defense ;  in  manufacturing  and  agricultural  contri- 
butions to  national  defense  ;  in  aviation,  motion  pictures,  radio,  shipping 
and  transportation;  and  that  it  has  become  a  crucial  State  in  major 
political  decisions  affecting  the  welfare  of  the  Nation  and  the  future  of 
the  world. 

The  unprecedented  growth  in  California's  population  has  created 
conditions  and  groupings  that  provide  lush  material  upon  which  Com- 
munist disruption  can  feed. 

California's  great  past,  and  imposing  future,  presents  a  challenge 
to  both  the  Communists  and  the  Americans.  The  final  record  of  how 
that  challenge  will  be  met,  will  be  determined  by  the  energy,  devotion, 
courage  and  morality  of  the  advocates  of  these  two  utterly  contradictory 
philosophies. 

We  have  shown  in  the  preceding  sections  of  this  report  how  the 
world  Communist  movement  places  emphasis  on  anticipated  depression 
and  economic  chaos  to  create  an  atmosphere  conducive  to  violent  revolu- 
tion; and  that  it  directly  has  accepted  the  oelief  that  the  United  States 
soon  is  to  enter  such  a  period  of  depression  and  economic  confusion. 

We  have  shown  also  in  the  preceding  sections  of  this  report  that  the 
line  and  strategj^  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  U.S.A.  is  completely 
subservient  to  the  programs  and  interests  of  Soviet  Russia. 

We  have  shown  also  that  the  present  program  and  line  of  Soviet 
Russia  is  to  engage  in  a  program  of  unprecedented  expansion  through 
brutal  aggression  and  to  denounce  the  United  States  as  the  center  of  an 
"imperialist  war-mongering  camp." 

Since  1945,  when  the  American  Communist  movement  was  recon- 
stituted again  as  the  Communist  Party,  U.S.A.,  after  the  ouster  of  Earl 
Browder  as  party  leader  and  his  replacement  by  William  Z.  Foster.  ;is 
chairman,  and  Eugene  Dennis,  alias  Frankie  Waldron,  as  secretary,  the 

(129) 


130  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

American  Communist  Party  has  conducted  a  militant  program  of  dis- 
ruption and  confusion  in  support  of  the  world  Communist  program  laid 
down  by  the  Kremlin.  This  policy  was  formalized  publicly  on  an  inter- 
national scale  through  the  creation  of  the  Cominform  in  September,  1947. 

The  California  unit  of  the  Communist  Party  has  followed  this  policy 
with  meticulous  and  undeviating  zeal. 

In  the  immediately  following  sections  of  this  report,  your  com- 
mittee presents  from  the  official  texts,  publications  and  statements  of 
the  leaders  of  World  Communism  the  positive  proof  that  the  Communist 
movement  throughout  the  world  is  an  instrumentality  of  Soviet  Russia 
and  is  a  persistent  advocate  of  revolutionary  overthrow  of  all  non- 
Communist  governments  by  force  and  violence ;  and  in  the  case  of  Tito 
and  Yugoslavia,  even  of  Communist  governments  that  do  not  please  the 
Kremlin  Politburo! 

Proof  that  the  Communist  Party,  U.S.A.,  is  an  undeviating  adherent 
of  Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism  and  consequently,  is  an  agent  of  a 
foreign  power  and  an  advocate  of  overthrow  of  our  government  by  force 
and  violence  is  cited  under  the  title,  The  Major  Legislative  and  Legal 
Problem,  on  Pages  149-256  of  this  report. 

WE  WERE  WARNED  IN  1939-1940 

The  first  committee  of  the  California  Legislature  to  investigate  the 
problem  of  Communist  activity  in  California  was  the  Assembly  Relief 
Investigating  Committee,  which  issued  a  report  in  1940  on  its  investiga- 
tion of  the  State  Relief  Administration.  The  committee  was  chairmaned 
by  Assemblyman  Samuel  William  Yorty.  The  committee  said  in  its  first 
report,  page  3 : 

The  Communist  Party  is  bent  upon  overthrowing  the  American  Government  in 
order  to  substitute  a  dictatorship  for  our  democracy.  These  traitors  probably  do  not 
have  the  power  to  accomplish  this  objective  today  without  outside  assistance.  But 
they  are  preparing  to  strike  whenever  we  face  a  crisis  of  sufficient  gravity  to  weaken 
our  resistance.  As  part  of  our  national  defense  we  must  stop  them  before  they  are  able 
to  attain  sufficient  strength  to  accomplish  their  objective. 

The  Yorty  committee  was  the  predecessor  of  the  series  of  legislative 
committees  that,  through  direct  succession,  finally  became  the  present 
Senate  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities. 

In  1940  this  first  committee  specifically  warned  the  Legislature  and 
the  people  of  the  State  of  California  of  the  danger  of  Communism  and 
made  specific  recommendations.  Since  that  time,  your  committees  have 
made  four  comprehensive  reports  on  Communist  activity  and  have  made 
further  recommendations. 

In  the  face  of  these  warnings  and  of  the  proof  of  Communist 
treachery,  carefully  documented  by  the  committees,  very  few  of  these 
recommendations  were  heeded.  The  Communist  Party  was  permitted  to 
expand  its  numbers  from  an  insignificant  few  thousands  and  to  extend 
its  influence  by  penetrating  into,  organizing  or  taking  over  hundreds  of 
front  organizations  to  do  its  work. 

For  more  than  a  decade  the  problem  of  Communism  has  been  treated 
with  either  levity  or  complacency  by  too  many  people.  In  1949,  in  a 
period  of  cold  war  that  has  placed  heavy  burdens  on  our  finances  and  on 
our  economy,  and  after  a  succession  of  murderous  and  bloody  Stalinist 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  131 

seizures  of  powers  by  Communists  across  the  globe,  the  time  has  come  to 
face  the  facts  about  this  world-wide  conspiracy  and  to  do  intelligently 
and  effectively  what  must  be  done  to  meet  the  threat  of  totalitarian 
Communism. 

PROBLEMS  BEARING  ON  THE  REPORT 

Your  committee  has  been  forced  to  cope  with  a  number  of  serious 
problems  in  the  preparation  of  this  Fifth  Report. 

First,  Communist  trickery,  engineered  by  Communist  and  fellow- 
traveler  attorneys,  has  resulted  in  sabotaging  public  hearings  through 
a  virtual  defiance  of  law  and  order  by  Communist-coached  witnesses. 

Second,  the  Communist  Party  in  1948  commenced  a  complex,  secre- 
tive reorganization  and  streamlining  of  its  entire  structure  to  operate 
on  an  underground  basis  in  the  classical  application  of  Lenin's  admoni- 
tion to  combine  "legal  and  illegal"  work  in  periods  of  stress. 

Third,  the  Communist  Party  simultaneously  began  a  complex  reor- 
ganization of  its  front  organization  activities. 

Fourth,  the  Communist  Party,  U.S.A.,  following  the  line  laid  down 
from  the  Kremlin  in  Moscow,  proceeded  to  accomplish  a  complicated 
change  and  revision  of  its  basic  strategy  and  tactics. 

Fifth,  the  Communist  line  of  recalcitrant  subservience  to  Soviet 
Russia 's  foreign  policy  interests,  combined  with  its  brazen  creation  of 
a  third  party  political  movement,  built  around  Henry  Wallace,  provoked 
a  series  of  conflicts  in  trade  union,  liberal  and  minority  group  organiza- 
tions. These  conflicts  created  a  series  of  important  realignments  of  forces 
and  interests,  and  these  still  are  continuing. 

THE  COMMITTEE'S  CONCLUSIONS 

Your  committee  evaluated  these  developments  from  a  large  mass 
of  information  and  documentation.  The  study  of  these  facts  brought  your 
committee  to  a  series  of  conclusions.  These  conclusions  led  your  committee 
to  decide  that  the  questions  presented  by  the  changes  and  shifts  in  all 
phases  of  the  problems  arising  from  Communist  activity,  demanded  an 
entirely  new  approach  toward  any  report  on  the  Communist  problem  as 
it  confronts  the  Legislature  and  the  people  of  California  in  1949. 

Our  conclusions  were : 

1.  An  important  and  basic  change  was  being  made  in  the  Com- 
munist strategy  of  the  Seventh  Period. 

(See  preceding  section,  The  Domestic  Situation,  for  a  clear  analysis 
of  the  Seven  Periods  of  Communist  Strategy  in  America.) 

2.  Communists  were  regrouping  their  strategic  forces  and  changing 
their  policies  to  fit  one  of  the  several  key  strategy  lints  of  Marxism- 
Leninism-Stalinism,  known  as  "The  Strug<j!<  lm%n  rialist  War." 

The  Communist  strategy  of  the  Struggle  Against  Imperialist  War 
is  based  on  a  64-page  resolution  of  the  Sixth  World  Congress  of  the 
Communist  International,  in  Moscow.  July-August,  1928,  which  was 
presented  by  the  Italian  Comintern  member,  Erooli,  who  in  recenl  years 
has  been  known  as  Palmiro  Togliatti,  head  of  the  Italian  Communist 
movement. 

This  resolution  is  considered  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  Com- 
munist documents.  It  actually  was  prepared  by  ;i  Special  Comintern 
commission. 


132  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

A  1934  copy  of  the  resolution,  which  was  widely  circulated  in  the 
1930's  is  in  the  possession  of  the  committee.  It  now  is  out  of  print  and  is 
sold  for  upward  of  $10  in  bookstores  that  specialize  in  Marxist  literature. 
However,  a  series  of  pamphlets,  directives  and  propaganda  publica- 
tions, with  analysis  of  strategy  and  tactics,  now  is  in  preparation  based  on 
this  document,  for  the  guidance  of  U.  S.  Communists  in  the  present 
period. 

It  was  published  in  the  United  States  under  the  title,  The  Struggle 
Against  Imperialist  War  and  the  Tasks  of  the  Communists,  by  Workers 
Library  Publishers,  a  Communist  publishing  firm. 

The  core  of  the  Communist  line  outlined  in  this  basic  study  of 
strategy  and  tactics  is  contained  in  the  following  statement  on  Paye  31 
of  the  1934  Second  Edition  : 

In  the  event  of  an  attack  upon  the  Soviet  Union  the  Communists  in  oppressed 
nations  as  well  as  those  in  imperialist  countries,  must  exert  all  their  efforts  to  rouse 
rebellion  or  wars  of  national  liberation  among  the  national  minorities  in  Europe  and 
in  the  colonial  and  semicolonial  countries  against  the  imperialist  enemies  of  the 
Soviet  state. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  "enemy"  in  such  a  war  is  the  Soviet  Union,  i.e.,  the 
fatherland  of  the  international  proletariat,  the  following  changes  must  be  made  in  the 
tactics  as  compared  with  the  tactics  employed  in  "purely"  imperialist  war: 

(a)  The  proletariat  in  the  imperialist  countries  must  not  only  fiyht  for  the 
defeat  of  their  own  governments  in  this  tear,  but  must  actively  strive  to  secure  victory 
for  the  Soviet   Union. 

(b)  Therefore  the  tactics  and  the  choice  of  means  of  fighting  will  not  only  be 
dictated  by  the  interests  of  the  class  struggle  at  home  in  each  country,  but  also  by  the 
considerations  for  the  outcome  of  the  war  at  the  front,  which  is  a  bourgeois  class  war 
against  the  proletarian  state. 

(e)  The  Red  Army  is  not  an  "enemy  army"  but  the  army  of  the  international 
proletariat.  In  the  event  of  a  war  against  the  Soviet  Union,  the  workers  in  capitalist 
countries  must  not  allow  themselves  to  be  scared  from  supporting  the  Red  Army  and 
from  expressing  this  support  by  fighting  against  their  own  bourgeois,  by  the  charges 
of  treason  that  the  bourgeois  may  hurl  against  them. 

This  Anti-Imperialist  War  line  was  analyzed  and  taught,  and 
developed  into  complex  strategy  and  tactics,  by  the  world  Communist 
movement  from  1928  until  1935. 

BLUEPRINT  FOR  TREACHERY 

Among  other  things  it  advocated  that  the  Communists  plan,  propa- 
gandize and  organize  to  be  able  to  turn  any  "imperialist  war"  into  a 
civil  war  in  their  own  country;  to  prepare  for  strikes  and  demonstra- 
tions; to  infiltrate  youth  and  the  armed  forces  to  corrupt  them  and 
weaken  their  morale;  to  make  use  of  pacifism  to  help  the  Soviet  Union 
but  to  combat  pacifism  when  it  opposed  civil  and  revolutionary  war;  to 
prepare  for  the  general  strike  as  the  final  transitional  stage  to  armed 
i  iprising ;  and  to  organize  for  guerrilla  activity  by  a  ' '  Red  Guard ' '  as  well 
as  for  sabotage  and  other  traitorous  activity. 

Your  committee  already  was  engaged  in  research  on  this  vital  and 
fundamental  Communist  line  before  Communist  leaders  in  February. 
1949,  openly  proclaimed  the  line  as  described  by  Roscoe  Drummond. 
chief  of  the  Christian  Science  Monitor  Washington  Bureau,  in  that 
publication,  March  2,  1949 : 


1\\ -AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  133 

It's  too  bad  that  Maurice  Thorea  and  Palmiro  Togliatti  can't  be  subpenaed  and 
brought  to  New  York  to  testify  in  the  trial  of  the  11  American  Communist  leaders. 

Thorez  and  Togliatti  are,  respectively,  the  chiefs  of  the  French  and  Italian  Com- 
munist Parties,  and  recently  they  have  been  expounding  Communist  doctrine  with 
arming  candor. 

They  obviously  would  make  valuable  government  witnesses  in  the  New  York  trial. 
Fortunately,  they  are  doing  their  work  just  as  well  from  Paris  and  Rome,  for  what  is 
most  needed  is  not  to  put  Communist  officials  behind  bars,  but  to  bring  Communist 
purposes  into  the  open — out  from  behind  Marxist  deceit  and  the  last  thin  layer  of 
American  woolly-mindedness. 

Thorez  and  Togliatti  will  have  their  own  reasons  for  standing  up  and  proclaiming 
that  they  will  commit  treason  against  their  own  nations  if  war  should  come  with 
Russia.  But  there  is  every  reason  to  take  them  at  their  words,  and  as  we  watch  the 
operation  of  the  Communists  in  the  United  States  it  is  helpful  to  Americans  to  see  it 
so  bluntly  shown  that  loyal  Communists  are  citizens  of  the  Kremlin  only. 

There  are  four  recent  disclosures  of  Communist  purpose  which  are  particularly 
revealing  and  which  will  help  to  alert  Americans  to  the  facts,  rather  than  the  lictions, 
of  what  the  Communists  are  really  up  to  : 

1.  Thorez  delivered  a  speech  last  week  in  which  he  said  that  in  the  event  of  war 
with  Russia  the  French  people  should  "welcome"  the  Red  Army  on  their  soil  as 
"liberators" — liberators,  I  suppose,  from  French  democracy. 

2.  Togliatti  followed  two  days  later  with  a  speech  in  Rome  in  which  he  let  just  a 
little  more  of  the  tail  of  the  cat  out  of  the  bag  by  declaring  that  in  case  of  conflict  with 
the  Soviet  Union  it  would  be  the  duty  of  the  Italians  to  "aid"  the  Soviet  Army  when- 
ever it  reached  Italian  soil. 

3.  In  London  this  week,  Harry  Pollitt,  general  secretary  of  the  Communist 
Party,  announced  that  British  Communists  would  join  in  organized  sabotage  should 
there  be  war  with  Russia. 

4.  Finally,  of  related  interest,  is  the  almost  instant  action  of  the  Chinese  Com- 
munists, after  seizing  Peiping,  in  dropping  a  total  ban  on  the  work  of  all  foreign 
correspondents.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether  the  Chinese  Communists  are  Soviet 
satellite  Communists,  but  what  is  clear  is  that  the  Chinese  Communists  have  iron 
curtains  of  their  own  making. 

It  deserves  to  be  understood  that  the  choice  of  loyalty  which  Thorez,  Togliatti, 
and  Pollitt  makes  between  their  own  countries  and  Moscow  is  something  special  which 
applies  only  to  France,  Italy,  and  Britain. 

Last  year,  in  his  testimony  during  the  Senate  hearings  on  the  proposed  Mundt- 
Nixon  bill,  William  Z.  Foster,  chairman  of  the  Communist  Party  in  the  United  States, 
found  it  hard  not  to  give  himself  away.  It  is  faithful  to  the  record  to  say  that  Foster, 
who  was  indicted  along  with  the  other  Communist  officers  but  has  not  been  well  enough 
to  stand  trial,  publicly,  if  unwillingly,  testified : 

That  American  Communists  would  not  support  the  United  States  if  it  were 
attacked  by  the  Soviet  Union. 

That  American  Communists  would  seek  to  end  any  war  in  which  the  United 
States  and  the  Soviet  Union  might  become  engaged — on  Soviet  terms. 

That,  if  drafted  into  the  army,  American  Communists  have  not  yet  decided  (so 
Foster  allows  himself  to  say)  whether  they  would  obey  or  disobey  military  orders. 

Thorez,  Togliatti,  and  Pollitt  are  more  outspoken  now  than  Poster  was  eight 
months  ago.  Either  Foster  hadn't  read  the  Communist  rules  (highly  improbable)  or  as 
a  tactic  (highly  probable)  he  was  refraining  from  exposing  Communist  policy  too 
bluntly  for  American  consumption.  For  the  constitution  of  the  Third  International. 
which  governs  the  Communist  parties  in  every  country,  is  blandly  explicit  on  this  point. 
It  says : 

"Every  branch  and  member  of  the  universal  Communist  Party  is  pledged  ti> 
indulge  in  national  treason  in  case  of  war  with  the  Soviets — no  matter  who,  in  such  a 
war,  should  be  aggressor." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  Thorez,  Togliatti,  and  Pollitt  are  not  proclaiming  and 
Foster  is  not  hinting  at  any  new  Communist  purpose.  Their  words  are  in  complete  line 
with  authentic  Communist  doctrine.  Under  the  constitution  of  international  Com 
munism,  its  members,  whatever  their  country,  are  pledged  to  renounce  patriotism  and, 
whenever  necessary,  "practice  treason." 

Because  Americans  are  becoming  more  alert  to  the  Communists,  they  can  be  less 
alarmed  about  Communism. 


134  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

Several  days  later  William  Z.  Foster  and  Eugene  Dennis  removed 
any  doubt  about  the  position  of  American  Communists,  when  they  issued 
the  following  statement : 

The  Thorez  and  Togliatti  statements  emphatically  serve  the  cause  of  universal 
peace. 

Only  those  who  plot  a  third  world  war  and  seek  to  embroil  France  and  Italy  in 
aggressive  military  operations  against  our  great  ally  of  World  War  II,  the  Soviet 
Union,  could  read  anything  un-French  or  un-Italian  in  these  statements. 

French  and  Italian  sovereignty  and  independence  are  threatened  today  solely 
by  Wall  Street's  schemes  of  world  domination  as  expressed  in  the  Marshall  Plan  and 
the  proposed  Atlantic  war  alliance.  It  is  our  military  and  those  of  the  British  who 
have  established  a  General  Headquarters  at  Fontainebleau.  Not  Russians,  but  Amer- 
icans have  military  bases  and  are  intervening  in  the  internal  affairs  of  Greece,  Turkey, 
Iran,  China,  Canada,  Greenland,  Brazil,  as  well  as  France  and  Italy. 

On  February  27,  The  Neiv  York  Times  editorially  termed  the  danger  of  an 
invasion  of  our  shores  "widely  improbable."  What  The  Times  failed  to  say,  however, 
was  that  the  threat  of  aggression  against  other  nations  is  not  "wildly  improbable" — 
and  that  this  threat  emanates  precisely  from  Wall  Street  and  its  cartel-connected 
trusts.  It  is  this  which  explains  the  colossal  peacetime  military  budget,  the  effort  to 
stampede  the  Nation  into  the  Atlantic  war  alliance  and  plunge  America  and  the  world 
into  an  atomic  war. 

We  Communists  join  with  millions  of  other  patriotic  Americans  in  opposing 
those  who  seek  a  new  world  war.  We  strive  for  peace  and  friendship  between  the 
U.  S.  A.,  the  U.  S.  S.  R.,  the  new  democracies,  the  colonial  and  all  other  peoples. 
We  do  not  regard  a  new  world  holocaust  as  inevitable.  We  hold  the  peaceful  co-exist- 
ence of  two  different  social  systems  wholly  possible.  We  believe  that  efforts  of  the 
peoples  to  achieve  peace  can  check  the  war-makers  and  create  new  opportunities  to 
achieve  peace.  The  peace  camp  is  infinitely  stronger  than  the  war  camp. 

It  is  this  which  makes  the  war  camp  so  reckless  and  ruthless.  An  atmosphere  is 
rapidly  being  created  in  our  Nation  that  to  work  for  peace  and  American-Soviet  amity 
is  considered  equivalent  to  treason.  The  trial  of  the  Communist  leaders,  the  current 
witch-hunts  and  other  attacks  on  civil  liberties  are  indicative  of  today's  political 
climate. 

If,  despite  the  efforts  of  the  peace  forces  of  America  and  the  world,  Wall  Street 
should  succeed  in  plunging  the  world  into  war,  we  would  oppose  it  as  an  unjust, 
aggressive,  imperialist  war,  as  an  undemocratic  and  an  anti-Socialist  war,  destructive 
of  the  deepest  interests  of  the  American  people  and  all  humanity.  Even  as  Lincoln, 
while  a  Congressman,  opposed  the  unjust,  annexationist  Mexican  War  and  demanded 
its  termination,  so  would  we  Communists  cooperate  with  all  democratic  forces  to  defeat 
the  predatory  war  aims  of  American  imperialism  and  bring  such  a  war  to  a  speedy 
conclusion  on  the  basis  of  a  democratic  peace. 

American  security  and  American  peace  lie  in  world  security  and  world  peace — 
not  in  any  Wall  Street-Ueber  Alles  policy  decked  out  in  the  trappings  of  "the  American 
century." 

For  our  part,  we  will  work  with  all  those  who  seek  peace,  democracy  and  social 
progress.  The  American  people,  assuming  their  historic  responsibility,  must  reject 
the  war  policies  of  the  Wall  Street-Churchill  cartelists  and  their  bipartisan  puppets 
and  return  our  Nation  to  the  peace  policies  of  Franklin  D.  Roosevelt,  the  "Grand 
Design"  and  cornerstone  of  which  is  firm  American-Soviet  friendship.  (Communist 
Party  Press  Release,  March  10, 1949.) 

TWO  PARTY  LINES  COMBINED 

Your  committee's  study  of  Communist  strategy  over  the  period  of 
more  than  a  decade  had  made  it  plain  that  such  a  world-wide  Com- 
munist dedication  to  the  Anti-Imperialist  War  line  was  imminent.  Com- 
munist action  confirmed  this  analysis. 

3.  The  revival  of  the  Anti-Imperialist  War  line  was  accompanied 
by  an  inclusion  in  that  line  of  many  features  of  the  United  Front  From 
Below  line  of  the  Communist  Party. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  135 

Communism  had  followed  the  strategy  and  tactics  and  propaganda 
techniques  of  the  Anti-Imperialist  War  line  from  1928  to  1935,  when, 
at  the  Seventh  Congress  of  the  Communist  International,  in  Moscow, 
July- August,  1935,  Georgi  Dimitroff,  at  that  time  General  Secretary  of 
the  Comintern,  and  now  the  Communist  premier  of  Bulgaria,  laid  down 
the  United  Front  From  Below  line  in  a  series  of  speeches. 

Dimitroff' s  speeches  were  published  in  this  country  under  the  title, 
United  Front  Against  Fascism,  by  New  Century  Publishers,  a  Com- 
munist publishing  firm;  and  this  volume  since  has  been  continuously 
circulated  through  Communist  book  stores  and  schools.  Numerous  edi- 
tions of  this  standard  Marxist  classical  text  are  in  the  committee's  files. 

The  United  Front  line,  which  was  directed  at  giving  Communists 
positions  of  power  and  influence  in  coalitions  directed  against  the  rising 
tide  of  Fascism  and  Nazism  during  the  1930  's,  is  analyzed  in  detail  in 
the  preceding  section,  The  Domestic  Situation,  as  a  feature  of  the  Fourth 
Period  of  Communist  strategy  in  the  United  States. 

4.  Instructions  to  launch  the  United  Front  line  against  the  United 
States  came  from  the  new  international  Communist  organization,  the 
Cominform,  which  was  launched  in  September,  1947. 

The  phases  of  the  United  Front  line  that  were  promoted  by  the 
Cominform  were  those  dealing  with  the  united  front  against  Fascism, 
and  all  Communists  were  ordered  to  direct  against  the  United  States 
in  1949  the  same  type  of  "anti-Fascist"  tactics  that  was  directed 
against  Germany,  Italy  and  Japan  from  1935  to  1939. 

The  Communist  movement  was  to  be  hailed  as  the  ' '  people 's,  demo- 
cratic, peace-loving  camp"  and  the  United  States  as  the  center  of  the 
"Fascist,  imperialist,  war-mongering  camp." 

(For  details  of  this  activity,  see  World  Situation,  in  Part  One  of  this 
Report.) 

Eugene  Dennis,  Secretary  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.S.A.,  laid 
down  this  line  for  American  Communists  in  his  political  report  to  the 
National  Committee  of  the  Communist  Party,  meeting  in  New  York, 
February  3-5,  1948. 

This  report  was  published  by  the  Communist  firm,  New  Century 
Publishers,  under  the  title,  The  Third  Party  and  the  1948  Elections,  and 
it  was  widely  distributed  through  Communist  bookstores,  schools  and 
front  organizations.  In  this  edition,  Dennis  said  on  page  8 : 

*  *  *  The  chief  acts  of  the  executive  branch  of  the  government  and  of  Congress 
are  marked  by  a  single-minded  devotion  to  promoting  monopoly  profiteering  and 
imperialist  expansion,  to  organizing  anti-Soviet  War  incitement,  ami  to  Stepping  up 
all  measures  of  preparation  for  World  War  III." 

5.  These  Communist  instructions  were  being  carried  out  in  Cali- 
fornia and  they  were  completely  changing  the  entire  situation. 

The  Communist  Party  had  begun  the  process  of  "going  under- 
ground" in  1948  to  prepare  for  the  Marxist  need  to  "combine  legal  and 
illegal  work,"  which  it  could  foresee  as  a  result  of  the  international 
showdown  that  was  coming  to  a  head  between  the  Communist  sphere 
and  the  sphere  of  free  nations,  and  because  of  iis  own  instructions  to 
launch  the  Struggle  Against  Imperialist  War  line,  combined  with  the 
United  Front  techniques  of  smearing  the  United  States  as  the  world 
center  of  "fascism  and  war-mongering." 


136  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

Your  committee  had  information  that  the  Communists  in  California 
were  so  well-advanced  in  the  process  of  "going  underground"  that  they 
were  conducting  large  scale  maneuvers  in  testing  secretive  assembly 
procedures. 

Meanwhile,  the  California  sections  and  divisions  of  the  major  Com- 
munist fronts  and  groups  were  engaged  in  a  complicated  process  of 
reorganization.  This  entire  process  of  reorganizations,  without  a  single 
deviation,  followed  the  pattern  of  preparation  for  the  fundamental 
strategic  and  tactical  maneuvers  of  the  Anti-Imperialist  War  line. 

6.  Communist  activities  since  the  Spring  of  1948  had  provoked 
a  whole  series  of  conflicts  in  many  organized  groups  and,  the  picture  was 
changing  constantly. 

The  Communist  Party  launched  the  (Independent)  Progressive 
Party  in  1948  as  its  above-ground  political  and  legislative  apparatus  and 
dedicated  the  new  third  party  to  opposition  to  American  preparedness, 
to  support  and  defense  of  the  Soviet  Union,  to  antagonism  to  the  Mar- 
shall Plan  and  to  all-out  attack  on  American  foreign  policy. 

The  inflexible  commitment  of  the  Communists  to  follow  this  "un- 
American"  line  in  trade-union,  liberal,  political,  and  minority  groups 
provoked  the  most  intensive  conflict  within  these  groups,  particularly 
in  the  CIO  and  in  our  Negro,  Jewish  and  Mexican  organizations. 

Where  the  Communists  previously  had  been  able  to  conceal  or 
extenuate  their  Marxist-Leninist  adherences  in  order  to  play  an  import- 
ant role  in  organizations  and  coalitions  in  these  fields,  by  posing  as 
"staunchly  devoted  to  the  interests  of  workers  and  minorities,"  they 
now  were  forced  into  open  conflict  with  the  patriotic  majority  of  our 
trade-union  and  minority  group  organizations  over  the  clear  issue  of 
loyalty  to  the  United  States  in  a  conflict  of  interests  with  Soviet  Russia. 

The  result  of  the  complex  series  of  conflicts,  which  still  are  con- 
tinuing, and  in  many  instances  are  as  yet  unresolved,  has  been  to  make 
either  pointless  or  hopelessly  dated  the  great  mass  of  testimony  taken 
by  your  committee  during  1948  in  public  hearings  on  Communist  activity 
in  these  fields. 

7.  Communist  reorganization  of  activities  and  fronts  also  had 
worked  a  major  change  in  the  over-all  situation  or  was  in  the  process 
of  working  out  such  a  change. 

In  addition  to  the  conflicts  that  had  developed  between  Communists 
and  patriotic  Americans  in  many  of  the  mass  organizations,  the  Com- 
munist Party  has  been  engaged  since  the  1948  presidential  election  in 
a  radical  reorganization  of  its  front  activity  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
strategy  and  tactics  of  the  Anti-Imperialist  War  line. 

Since  the  Anti-Imperialist  War  line,  combined  with  some  phases 
of  the  United  Front  line,  is  directed  toward  the  support  and  defense  of 
the  Soviet  Union,  it  requires  a  strategic  and  tactical  emphasis  on  cer- 
tain fundamental  propaganda  and  agitation  activities. 

Any  conspiratorial  group,  regardless  of  ideology  or  theory,  that 
is  dedicated  to  support  a  foreign  power  against  its  own  country  and  is 
counting  on  the  prospect  of  economic  crisis  to  provoke  the  opportunity 
for  uprising,  and  is  committed  to  plan  for  civil  war  and  revolt,  would 
be  idiotic  in  its  treachery  if  it  did  not  take  certain  fundamental  steps 
to  prepare  for  the  time  when  it  must  play  its  treasonable  role. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  137 

Here  are  some  of  the  things  such  a  conspiracy  would  have  to  plan 
and  organize  for : 

(1)  It  would  have  to  engage  in  all  types  of  espionage  and  to 
infiltrate  all  defense  plants  and  industries  or  trades,  especially  trans- 
portation, communication  and  agriculture,  that  would  be  of  any 
value  for  military  purposes. 

(2)  It  would  have  to  engage  in  a  gigantic  campaign  of  peace 
propaganda,  involving  intellectuals  and  pacifists,  to  destroy,  demor- 
alize and  weaken  the  unity  and  morale  of  the  nation  it  was  planning 
to  betray. 

(3)  It  would  have  to  direct  a  special  campaign  for  the  same 
purposes  toward  soldiers,  sailors  and  other  military  personnel ;  and 
also  to  all  young  people  who  were  potential  combatants. 

(4)  It  would  have  to  infiltrate  into  the  educational,  communica- 
tion, entertainment,  press  and  propaganda  fields  to  create  confusion, 
disruption,  disunity  and  doubt;  and  to  win  over  popular  person- 
alities to  serve  its  propaganda  purposes. 

(5)  It  would  have  to  infiltrate  into  any  public  or  private  posi- 
tions of  power  and  influence  that  would  in  any  way  deal  with  defense, 
preparedness,  charity,  relief,  unemployment,  social  security  and 
similar  problems. 

(6)  With  its  agents  in  key  positions  in  such  public  influence,  it 
would  have  to  prepare  to  organize  movements  of  unemployed  and 
relief  clients  and  to  control  and  manipulate  such  movements  in  a 
period  of  economic  uncertainty  or  distress. 

In  addition,  such  a  program  would  have  to  be  conducted  to  create 
the  greatest  possible  number  of  coalitions  with  mass  organizations  on 
so-called  "local  and  immediate  issues"  and  at  the  same  time  launch  a 
mammoth  and  continuous  program  of  "defense  of  civil  rights"  and 
denunciation  of  "red-baiting"  to  protect  its  leaders,  collaborators  and 
useful  personalities  from  exposure  and  isolation  as  potential  traitors  in 
organized  groups  as  well  as  from  investigation,  indictment  and  prosecu- 
tion for  illegal  acts,  and  from  any  antisubversive  legislation  by  Congress 
or  the  states. 

Your  committee  has  documented  in  its  preceding  four  reports  that 
the  Communist  Party  has  done  every  one  of  the  things  that  are  indis- 
pensable to  a  program  of  organized  treachery  in  the  interests  of  a  foreign 
power,  as  cited  above. 

1939  and  1949 

California's  Legislature  and  citizens  should  particularly  be  inter- 
ested in  present  Communist  strategy  and  tactics  developments  because 
our  State  approximately  a  decade  ago  was  the  most  conspicuous  target 
in  the  entire  Nation  for  an  identical  and  complete  program  of  the  same 
Communist  character. 

Our  State  experienced  the  flowering  of  the  United  Front  from  Below 
line  from  1935  to  August.  1939,  when  the  Hitler-Stalin  Pact  was  signed. 
From  1939  to  June,  1941,  when  Hitler  launched  an  attack  on  Russia. 
California  was  subjected  to  the  basic  elements  of  the  Anti-Imperialist 
War  line  with  overtones  of  combined  Communazi  treason. 


138  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

Your  committee  found  that  the  Communist  Party  in  California  had 
launched  itself  upon  a  program  in  1949  that  was  identical  with  its  pro- 
gram in  1939;  but  vastly  more  dangerous  because  of  the  expansion  of 
world  Communism  by  bloody  aggression  in  the  intervening  10  years. 

Your  committee  was  impressed  with  the  unprecedented  success  of 
the  Communists  in  swindling  many  innocents  into  supporting  a  carbon 
copy  of  a  treasonable  fraud  by  which  the  Communists  once  had  exposed 
their  duplicity.  Your  committee  also  was  concerned  with  the  compla- 
cency and  apathy  with  which  so  many  Californians  regarded  the  1949 
model  of  the  1939  Trojan  Horse. 

8.  Your  committee  became  convinced  that  the  Communists  would 
consider  ordinary  report  of  their  general  surface  activities  of  the  past 
year  to  be  a  huge  joke. 

A  thorough  review  of  the  available  facts  about  the  continuing 
changes  in  Communist  front  activity  to  prepare  for  the  fullest  strategic 
and  tactical  operation  of  all  phases  of  the  Anti-Imperialist  War  line  in 
the  Seventh  Period  of  Communism  in  America,  convinced  your  com- 
mittee that  it  was  obligated  to  provide  the  Legislature  and  the  citizens 
with  substantial  new  tools  to  deal  with  the  menace  posed  by  these  develop- 
ments in  our  State,  when  considered  in  the  framework  of  the  world  situ- 
ation today. 

The  committee  is  well  aware  of  the  fact  that  most  Americans  know 
little  or  nothing  of  the  theories  and  practices  of  Marxisin-Leninism- 
Stalinism  and  little  more  about  the  specific  legal  issues  involved  in  the 
control  of  subversive  activity  in  a  manner  so  that  such  control  will  not 
infringe  upon  our  own  basic  and  treasured  American  freedoms  and 
liberties. 

The  committee  also  is  well  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  Communist 
Party  continuously  conducts  an  efficient,  systematic  and  highly  skilled 
campaign  of  propaganda  and  confusion  on  these  important  issues. 

Your  committee  felt  that  the  most  important  step  to  be  taken  was 
to  launch  a  direct  and  frontal  attack  on  the  Communist  Party  as  an  agent 
of  a  foreign  power  and  an  advocate  of  overthrow  of  government  by  force 
andviolence. 

9.  Your  committee  decided  to  assume  the  task  of  laying  this  entire 
problem  before  the  Legislature  and  the  people  of  California  in  such  a 
manner  that  they  would  have  immediately  available  under  one  cover  the 
information  they  would  need  to  act  intelligently  to  meet  the  problem  of 
a  revised  and  insidiously  clever  Communist  program. 

It  was  essential  in  any  comprehensive  program  to  meet  the  threat 
of  the  new  Communist  strategy  and  tactics  that  a  large  mass  of  factual 
information  be  combined  for  the  first  time  under  one  cover  and  made 
readily  available  to  the  leadership  of  our  State. 

Any  such  compilation  of  factual  documentation  also  would  have  to 
support  and  unqualifiedly  justify  any  needed  legislation,  investigation, 
prosecution  and  community  action  that  would  be  recommended  to  meet 
the  problem  posed  by  the  plotting  of  treason,  sabotage  and  civil  war  by 
the  Communist  Party. 

Your  committee,  decided,  therefore,  to  present  to  the  Legislature  a 
complete  legislative  program  of  antisubversive  control  legislation  that 
would  be  aimed  clearly,  specifically  and  constitutionally  at  the  major 
strategical  and  tactical  operations  of  the  Communist  Anti-Imperialist 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  139 

War  line  and  which  would  expose  and  isolate  Communists  and  their 
subservient  fellow-travelers  from  honest  liberal,  trade  union  and  minor- 
ity mass  organizations  and  also  to  effectively  remove  Communists  from 
positions  of  influence  and  power  in  which  they  could  contribute  to  the 
1949  Trojan  Horse  program. 

Your  committee  prepared  such  legislation,  which  is  described  in 
Part  Two  of  this  report  on  Pages  590-592. 

An  examination  of  all  available  material  on  the  subject  convinced 
the  committee  that  the  following  information  was  indispensable  to  an 
intelligent  and  thorough  consideration  of  the  situation  by  the  Legislature 
and  the  people  of  California  : 

(1)  A  statement  of  the  world  situation  and  of  the  domestic 
situation. 

(2)  Documented  and  clear  proof  of  what  the  Communist  Party 
does  believe  in,  teach,  advocate  and  practice  in  its  pseudo-science  of 
Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism. 

(3)  A  compilation  of  the  citations  by  official  agencies  of  Com- 
munist front  organizations  and  publications. 

(4)  A  report  on  the  activities  "of  the  few  major  front  organiza- 
tions or  basic  subversive  group  activities  that  had  participated  in  the 
1939  Communist  Trojan  Horse  activities  and  now  are  participating 
in  the  same  identical  subversive  activities  in  1949. 

There  is  no  subject  of  general  interest  today  that  is  a  more  conspicu- 
ous topic  for  discussion,  consideration  and  action  than  the  subject  of  Com- 
munism, in  all  its  many  phases.  And  yet  there  is  no  subject  of  broad  dis- 
cussion and  action  on  which  there  is  so  little  common  knowledge  of  the 
elemental  facts. 

In  the  heat  of  emotional  response  to  the  issues  raised  by  Communist 
activity  too  many  important  decisions  are  being  made  on  the  basis  of 
vague  generalities  and  hunches. 

Your  committee  sincerely  believes  that  the  compilation  in  Part  One 
of  this  report  of  the  analysis  of  the  present  world  and  domestic  situation, 
combined  with  the  documented  proof  of  what  Marxism-Leninism-Stalin- 
ism actually  is,  can  be  used  by  the  Legislature  and  by  the  people  of  Cali- 
fornia to  make  intelligent  decisions  on  fundamental  issues. 

10.  Many  people  arc  confused  or  uninformed  about  the  constitu- 
tionality and  practicality  of  anti-subversive  legislation. 

If  there  is  any  subject — next  to  the  question  of  what  Communism 
actually  is — on  which  there  is  a  welter  of  confusion  and  misinformation 
it  is  the  question  of  anti-subversive  legislation.  The  confusion  extends 
from  those  who  would  dispose  of  all  problems  arising  from  Communist 
activity  by  passing  a  law  to  abolish  it,  to  Ihose  who  doubt  the  legality  or 
feasibility  of  any  anti-subversive  Legislation. 

Your  committee  reached  the  opinion  that  it  was  essential  in  this 
period  of  crisis,  when  we,  ourselves  sincerely  believed  in  the  need  for 
legislation  and  when  the  public  is  demanding  effective  curbs  on  Com- 
munist conspiracy,  that  a  comprehensive  study  and  analysis  should  be 
presented  to  the  Legislature  and  to  the  public  of  existing  law  and  ihe 
reasonable  and  useful  fields  in  which  legislation  could  bo  proposed. 


140  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

The  committee  also  presents,  therefore,  in  Part  One  of  this  report,  a 
comprehensive  analysis  and  study  of  the  existing  laws  covering  subver- 
sive activities,  of  important  court  decisions,  and  a  general  discussion  of 
the  fields  in  which  the  Legislature  safely  can  enact  laws  to  meet  the 
specific  threat  to  our  Nation  and  State  that  is  posed  by  the  Communist 
strategy  and  tactics  of  the  present  period  in  history ;  and  at  the  same  time 
protect  and  preserve  our  fundamental  freedoms  and  liberties  from 
infringement. 

The  committee  refers  Legislators  and  citizens  to  this  section  on 
Pages  564-588  of  this  report  for  the  authentic  presentation  of  the  broad 
facts  without  which  it  is  impossible  intelligently  to  consider  the  subject 
of  legislation  control  of  subversive  activities. 

11.  No  action  by  legislators  and  public  officials  alone  would  be 
sufficient  to  meet  the  problem. 

Your  committee  was  impressed  in  its  thorough  study  of  the  Com- 
munist revival  in  1949  of  the  Trojan  Horse  technique  of  1939  with  the 
need  for  intelligent,  informed  and  patriotic  activity  by  all  citizens  of  the 
community. 

The  committee,  therefore,  undertook  a  survey  of  practical  programs 
to  deal  with  the  problem  of  Communism  by  responsible  civic  organiza- 
tions. The  results  of  this  survey  appears  in  Part  Two  of  this  report  under 
the  heading,  The  Community  Approach. 

We  believe  that  this  is  an  important  contribution  to  the  desperately 
needed  understanding  of  the  problem  and  how  to  meet  it  at  every  level 
of  human  relations. 

Your  committee  came  to  its  conclusions  on  the  basis  of  extensive 
research  and  thoughtful  examination  of  the  many  perplexities  involved 
in  dealing  with  the  Communist  problem. 

NEW  APPROACH  IS  NEEDED 

After  a  decade  of  experience  with  the  task  of  investigating,  exposing 
and  documenting  factually,  the  activities  of  the  Communist  Party,  its 
fellow-travelers,  opportunists  and  dupes,  your  committee  obviously  has 
become  convinced  that  a  completely  new  approach  must  be  made  to  the 
problem.  This  report  is  an  expression  of  that  deep  conviction. 

The  members  of  your  committee  are  neither  so  obtuse  to  the  statistics 
of  subversive  activity  nor  so  steeped  in  pride  of  accomplishment  that 
they  are  not  clearly  aware  that  the  anti-Communist  side  in  the  present 
world  situation  continues  to  be  confused  and  divided  in  contrast  to  the 
militantly  fanatical  and  disciplined  Communists. 

In  spite  of  individual  successes  by  anti-Communists  and  in  spite  of 
repeated  exposure  of  the  fraud,  duplicity  and  treachery  of  Communists 
in  any  activity,  the  fact  remains  that  the  Communist  movement  is  expand- 
ing aggressively,  while  the  anti-Communist  forces  are  almost  continu- 
ously on  the  defensive. 

One  of  the  major  reasons  for  this  Communist  success  is  the  fact 
that  the  fanatical  advocates  of  Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism  have  the 
favorable  tactical  position  of  working  to  accomplish  something,  while  too 
many  on  the  anti-Communist  side  are  inclined  to  view  the  activities 
involved  in  combating  Communism  as  purely  a  negative  and  warding 
off  process.  It  is  the  difference  between  hitting  a  home  run  and  swatting 
a  fly. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  l4l 

Your  committee  is  convinced  that  the  only  final  and  completely 
effective  antidote  to  Communism  is  informed  and  intelligent  communit}- 
action.  We  must  realize  that  it  often  is  necessary  in  a  complicated  indus- 
trial civilization  to  act  through  organized  groups. 

In  our  1948  Fourth  Report  we  placed  heavy  emphasis  on  the  need 
for  understanding  the  importance  of  group  and  organized  attitudes 
as  distinguished  from  the  problem  of  personal  responsibility  by  the  indi- 
vidual. 

Communists  become  Communists  to  do  something,  not  merely  to  join  and  meet 
together.  Regardless  of  how  critical  the  citizen  of  any  country  may  be  of  policies,  con- 
ditions and  leadership  within  that  country,  he.  thinks  a  long  time  before  he  faces  the 
naked  fact  of  revolution  through  violence.  Communists  know  this ;  and  consequently, 
while  the  hard  core  of  veteran  revolutionaries  who  run  Communist  Parties  are  working 
toward  the  twin  goals  of  serving  the  foreign  policy  of  Soviet  Russia  and  preparing  for 
revolutionary  seizure  of  power  in  their  own  country,  they  seek  to  carry  out  these  twin 
programs  through  subterfuge  and  trickery.  They  have  become  adept  in  playing  on  the 
individual's  ambitions  and  the  complaints  of  organized  groups. 

Modern  industrial  civilization  has  complicated  living  to  the  point  where  few 
individuals  are  effective  by  themselves.  The  modern  world  provides  modes  of  political, 
cultural,  economic,  and  similar  expression,  by  group  action.  Frequently,  individual 
competition  is  supplanted  or  supplemented  by  group  competition.  This  grouping  of 
people  for  joint  action  is  more  or  less  effective,  more  or  less  democratic,  and  more  or 
less  constructive,  according  to  the  character,  integrity  and  ability  of  those  who  achieve 
positions  of  leadership  through  the  inevitable  processes  of  promotion,  appointment, 
selection  and  election  in  organized  groups. 

The  Communist  Party  scientifically  charts  this  organization  into  groups  in 
modern  civilization  and  it  plans  and  works  to  capture  control  of  key  positions  when 
possible.  When  this  method  fails  the  Communists  work  to  nullify  and  make  impotent  the 
leadership  of  groups  it  cannot  infiltrate  or  control,  through  "rank-and-file"  disruption 
and  confusion. 

Communist  confusion  is  an  organized  and  planned  confusion  and  its  ultimate 
goal  is  to  develop  the  ability  to  create  the  maximum  of  confusion  at  the  time  when 
Communist  strategy  decrees  an  open  bid  for  power  through  revolutionary  violence. 

In  the  scientific  blueprint  for  revolution  that  is  laid  down  in  official  Communist 
textbooks  and  taught  in  the  Communist  schools,  interminable  analysis  and  study  is 
given  to  the  technique  of  manipulating  organized  groups  toward  the  eventual  belief 
that  they  cannot  solve  their  particular  problems  or  achieve  their  particular  objectives 
within  the  framework  and  limitations  of  a  capitalist  economy  and  a  parliamentary 
government.  The  final  goal  of  Communist  infiltration  into  organized  groups  is  to 
dominate  the  sentiment  of  such  groups — running  the  gamut  from  ignorant  apathy  to 
active  acceptance — for  the  purpose  of  permitting  the  hardened  core  of  revolutionaries 
to  seize  power  at  the  proper  time. 

For  this  purpose  in  the  long  range  Communist  plan,  an  apathetic,  inert  organi- 
zation, incapable  of  united  and  decisive  action  in  a  crisis,  is  just  as  valuable  as  an 
organization  that  is  enthusiastically  working  to  serve  the  Communist  program.  Either 
attitude  serves  the  purposes  of  the  Red  Fascist  conspiracy. 

However,  pending  the  long-range  program  of  eventual  world-wide  "dictatorship 
of  the  proletariat"  Communist  strategists  study  and  work  to  put  into  effect  temporary, 
immediate  popular,  localized  and  special  purpose-policies  and  projects. 

Communist  theory  and  technique  is  based  on  a  huge  mass  of  ana- 
lytical, historical  and  theoretical  teachings,  accumulated  since  Commu- 
nism was  launched  in  1848  with  Karl  Marx's  "Communist  Manifesto," 
a  hundred  years  ago. 

Much  of  it  is  openly  and  plainly  presented  to  Communists  as  a 
study  of  strategy  and  tactics  to  achieve  a  successful  revolution  and  com- 
plete seizure  of  power  under  a  "dictatorship  of  the  proletariat."  How- 


142 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 


ever,  a  great  mass  of  it  is  thinly  disguised  as  history.  This  later  element 
is  particularly  valuable  to  the  teaching  of  Marxist  revolutionary  doc- 
trine, where  Communists  are  obliged  to  conduct  their  proselyting  and 
organizing  surreptitiously. 

The  average  American  can  secure  a  very  good  basic  concept  of  the 
special  purpose  and  approach  of  this  huge  mass  revolutionary  Marxian 
literature  by  a  comparison  with  popular  American  sports. 


I 


Wlwahl  C^A&kA 


TftaAxurf  gfaAAicA 


ANTI-DUHRING    by    Frederick   Engels  ._     ,  ! 

CAPITAL   by   Karl   Marx     ...   .. Volume    I 

Volume    1   &    3    each 

THE  CIVIL  WAR  IN   FRANCE  by  Karl   Man      _ 

THE  CIVIL  WAR  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  by  Karl  Marx 

and    Frederick    Engels    

THE  CLASS  STRUGGLES  IN  FRANCE  by  Karl  Marx  ...  _ 
CRITIQUE  OF  THE  GOTHA  PROGRAM  by  Karl  Marx  ... 
CRITIQUE  OF  POLITICAL  ECONOMY  by  Karl  Mar,  .... 
DIALECTICS   OF   NATURE    by   Frederick   Engels  

THE   18th  BRUMAIRE  OF  LOUIS   BONAPARTE   by  Karl 

THE  GERMANY  IDEOLOGY  by   Karl   Marx  and   Frederick 

THE  HOUSING  QUESTION  by  Frederick  Engels       _. 

LETTERS  TO  KUGELMANN  by  Karl  Marx   . 
LITERATURE  AND  ART  by  Karl  Marx  and  Frederick  Engels 

LUDWIG    FEUERBACH    by    Frederick   Engels  . 

ON  "CAPITAL"  by  Frederick  Engels  

THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  FAMILY  by  Frederick  Engels 
THE  PEASANT  WAR  IN  GERMANY  by  Frederick  Engels  . 
THE  POVERTY  OF  PHILOSOPHY  by  Karl  Marx 
REVOLUTION    IN    SPAIN    by    Karl    Marx    and    Frederick 

SELECTED   CORRESPONDENCE   by   Karl    Marx   and    Frod- 

SOCIALISM:    UTOPIAN    AND    SCIENTIFIC    by    Frederick 

WAGE— LABOUR  AND  CAPITAL— VALUE,  PRICE  AND 
PROFIT   by   Karl   Marx 


SELECTED  WORKS 
By  V.  I.  Lenin— 12  Volumes— Index 


COLLECTED  WORKS- 


COLLECTED  WORKS  ■ 


XXIII  (1918(919)  by 


XIX  (191 


17)   by' 


DIALECTICAL    AND    HISTORICAL    MATERIALISM    by 

Joseph  Stalin  — 

FOUNDATIONS  OF  LENINISM  by  Joseph  Stalin    . 
HISTORY  OF  THE  COMMUNIST  PARTY  OF  THE  SOVIET 

UNION  by  Joseph  Stalin  and  others.  Paper  .50  Cloth 
IMPERIALISM:  The   Highest  Stage  of  Capitalism  by  V.  I. 


"LEFT  WING"   COMMUNISM   —  AN    INFANTILE   DIS- 
ORDER   by    V.    I.    Lenin... 

LENINISM   by  Joseph   Stalin— One   Volume   Edition. 

MARX.   ENGELS,    MARXISM    by  V.   I.   Lenin 

MARXISM  AND  THE  NATIONAL  QUESTION   by  Joseph 


THE  OCTOBER  REVOLUTION  by  Joseph  Stalin  

THE  PROLETARIAN  REVOLUTION  AND  THE  RENEGADE 

KAUTSKY  by  V.  I.  Lenin       ..  

PROBLEMS    OF   LENINISM    by   Joseph    Stalin 

THE    RUSSIAN    REVOLUTION    by   V.   I.   Lenin    and   Joseph 


THE  STATE  AND  REVOLUTION  by  V.  I.  Lenin  .      1.25 

TWO    TACTICS    OF    SOCIAL    DEMOCRACY    IN    THE 

DEMOCRATIC  REVOLUTION  by  V.  I.  Lenin  .      1.25 

WHAT  THE  "FRIENDS  OF  THE  PEOPLE  ARE"  AND  HOW 

THEY   FIGHT  THE  SOCIAL   DEMOORATS   by  V.   I. 

Lenin Paper        -5C 

WHAT  IS  TO  BE  DONE  by  V.  I.  Lenin  _      1.25 

6  .7 

Plate  1.  Shown  above  are  Pages  6  and  7  of  the  current  1949  catalog  of  the  Progres- 
sive Book  Shop,  Communist  hook  store,  at  1806  West  7th  St.,  in  Los  Angeles. 
The  "Marxist  classics"  by  Marx,  Engels,  Lenin,  Stalin  and  other  Communist 
ideological  authorities  are  quoted  liberally  on  Pages  149-252  of  this  1949  Fifth 
report  to  show  open  Communist  advocacy  of  overthrow  of  government  by  force 
and  violence  in  the  interest  of  Soviet  Russia  and  the  world  Communist  revolu- 
tionary movement. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  143 

Football,  baseball,  golf  and  other  sports  are  described  in  detail  and 
from  every  viewpoint  in  a  mass  of  technical  literature. 

Communist  handbooks,  that  may  be  bought  openly  in  Communist 
bookstores  throughout  America,  reveal  a  pattern  of  psychological,  organ- 
izational and  propaganda  technique  that  directly  parallels  the  systems 
and  stratagems  of  the  popular  sports. 

THEY  TELL  US  IN  PLAIN  WORDS 

There  the  analogy  ends! 

In  sports,  the  object  is  to  win,  and  the  system  and  stratagems  are 
devised  for  the  purpose  of  winning.  Sportsmen  always  play  to  win,  but 
the  test  of  sportsmanship  is  the  will  to  win  fairly. 

To  Communists,  the  object  also  is  to  win  and  the  prize  is  the  Com- 
munist dictatorship  of  the  world.  But  the  literature  of  Communist  tactics 
and  strategies  proclaims  openly  and  brazenly,  and  with  never  a  variation, 
that  fraud,  deceit,  dishonesty  and  trickery  are  the  indispensable  ingredi- 
ents of  a  successful  revolutionary  movement. 

The  inability  of  the  average  American,  trained  in  the  ideals  of  fair 
play  and  good  sportsmanship,  to  understand  this  basic  tenet  of  Commu- 
nist strategy  and  tactics  in  day-to-day  relations  is  one  of  the  major  rea- 
sons why  Communists  are  consistently  successful  in  either  capturing  or 
disrupting  organized  groups  whenever  it  serves  the  purpose  of  the  "party 
line." 

For  ten  years  now,  your  committee  has  been  pointing  out  in  reports, 
in  debates  and  in  public  addresses  across  our  state  that  the  truth  about 
Communism  can  be  found  in  official  Communist  texts  and  publications 
that  can  be  bought  openly  in  California  Communist  book  stores,  at  Com- 
munist "labor  schools"  and  at  Communist  trade  unions  and  front  organi- 
zations. 

Few  people  ever  bothered  to  get  the  Communist  material  and  find  out 
for  themselves  what  the  Keds  were  talking  about.  It  was  a  case  of  ' '  bring- 
ing the  mountain  to  Mohamet. "  Your  committee,  therefore,  has  presented 
in  this  report  a  large  selection  of  direct  quotations  from  these  official  Com- 
munist texts. 

The  presentation  of  this  tremendous  mass  of  documentation  provides 
conclusive  proof  of  the  serious  need  for  appropriate  legislation,  continued 
investigation  and  exposure,  full  law  enforcement  and  aroused  com- 
munity-wide action  to  meet  the  Communist  threat  and  defeat  it. 

The  material  that  has  been  presented  by  your  committee  in  this 
report  provides  for  the  information  of  the  Legislature  and  the  people  of 
California  the  evidence  that  is  involved  in  a  number  of  important  current 
cases  now  before  the  courts.  This  evidence  also  has  an  important  bearing 
on  what  we  do  in  California. 

The  most  important  of  these  court  tests  of  the  right  of  a  free  nation 
to  protect  itself  from  subversive  individuals  who  would  murder  freedom 
and  liberty  is  the  trial  of  the  11  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  leaders  in  the 
New  York  Federal  court  as  violators  of  the  Smith  Act,  The  twelfth, 
William  Z.  Foster,  was  excused,  from  the  trial  because  of  illness;  and 
Elizabeth  Gurley  Flynn  is  not  involved  in  the  case. 


144 


UK-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 


NATIONAL       COMMITTEE 


EUGENE  DENNIS 

General  Secretary 


Benjamin  Davis 


Elizabeth  G.  Flyrn 


John  Gates 


Jack  Stachel 


Robert   Thompson 


John    Williamson 


Plate  2.  Here  are  the  13  members  of  the  American  "Politburo"  of  the  Communist 
Party,  11  of  whom  went  on  trial  in  Federal  Court  as  advocates  of  overthrow  of 
our  government  by  force  and  violence.  These  pictures  of  the  American  Com- 
munist Party  leaders  are  reproduced  from  Political  Affairs,  the  official  monthly 
Communist  ideological  journal,  which  is  described  on  its  masthead  as  "A  maga- 
zine devoted  to  the  theory  and  practice  of  Marxism- Leninism."  (See  Page  189 
for  a  reproduction  of  the  masthead  of  Political  Affairs,  December,  1948.  listing 


FX-AMERICAX  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 


145 


COMMUNIST     PARTY,     U.S.A. 


WILLIAM  Z.  FOSTER 

National  Chairman 


Gilbert    Green 


Gas  Hall 


Irving  Potash 


Elected 


at  the 

PW    ^SH 

14th  National 

Convention 

of  the 

Carl    Winter 

Communist  Party 

Henry  Winston 

Jack  Stachel  ass  a  member  of  the  Editorial  Board  and  stating  that  the  publica- 
tion is  issued  by  New  Century  Publisher,  Inc.,  of  832  Broadway,  New  York  .".. 
X.  Y.,  an  official  Communist  publishing  house.)  Direct  quotations  from  the 
official  texts  of  Marxism-Leninism  in  the  following  section  of  this  1!>4!>  Fifth 
Report  prove  conclusively  that  any  persons,  organizations  or  publications 
"devoted  to  the  theory  and  practice  of  Marxism-Leninism"  are  devoted  to  a 
theory  and  practice  of  overthrow  of  governments  by  force  and  violence. 


146  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

WE  ARE  WARNED  AGAIN  IN  1949 

The  attitude  of  individuals  and  organizations  toward  this  trial  pro- 
vides an  illustrative  and  useful  key  to  the  Stalinist  sympathies  of  Cali- 
fornia figures  and  groups.  It  can  be  used  as  a  basic  starting  point  from 
which  to  test  the  attitude  and  activities  of  individuals  and  organizations 
toward  the  current  Communist  strategy  and  tactics  of  The  Struggle 
Against  Imperialist  War. 

It  was  natural  that  a  major  Communist  front  group  would  be  set  up 
to  support  and  defend  the  Communist  leaders.  It  is  The  Committee  for 
Free  Political  Advocacy,  with  headquarters  at  11  West  42nd  St.,  Suite 
824,  New  York  City. 

Initiating  sponsors  of  this  front  are  Earl  B.  Dickerson,  Paul  J.  Kern 
and  Justice  James  L.  Wolfe,  of  the  Utah  Supreme  Court.  California  mem- 
bers of  the  Initiating  Committee  include :  Dr.  Thomas  Addis,  Hugh 
Bryson,  Morris  Carnovsky,  Rev.  J.  Raymond  Cope,  Howard  DaSilva, 
Guy  Endore,  Rev.  Stephen  H.  Fritchman,  Leo  Gallagher,  Dashiell  Ham- 
mett,  Donald  Henderson,  Carey  Mc Williams,  Albert  Maltz.  Clifford 
Odets,  Prof.  Linus  Pauling,  Anton  Refregier,  Anne  Revere,  Eddie 
Tangen  and  Dalton  Trumbo. 

Our  State  is  confronted  in  1949  with  the  same  pattern  of  Communist 
conspiracy  that  we  experienced  in  1939.  Already  the  tom-toms  are  beating 
for  the  creation  of  "unemployed  councils"  and  "marches  on  Sacra- 
mento." 

Already  the  front  groups  are  reshaping  into  the  pattern  of  con- 
fusion, sabotage,  treachery,  defense  plant  strikes  and  economic  agitation 
that  we  experienced  a  decade  ago.  Already  the  Communist  machinery 
for  defense  and  support  of  their  leaders  and  for  the  smearing  and  dis- 
crediting of  anti-Communists  is  ready  for  militarized  and  disciplined 
action. 

We  were  warned  in  1940.  We  failed  to  heed  the  warning  and  the 
costly  results  of  that  failure  are  history.  The  same  warnings  now  are 
reiterated  in  1949.  Will  we  act  this  time? 

1939  's  AGITATORS  in  1949 

Today  in  California  Hugh  Bryson,  a  Communist,  heads  the  (Inde- 
pendent) Progressive  Party;  where  in  1939  Don  Healy  and  Herbert  K. 
Sorrell,  both  Communists,  headed  the  political  front,  Labor's  Non- 
partisan League. 

Today  in  California,  Philip  M.  Connelly  has  circulated  throughout 
our  State  a  Communist  plan  for  "A  Fighting  Program  for  the  Unem- 
ployed," in  a  series  of  26  pages  of  resolutions,  to  prepare  the  way  in 
leftwing  unions  for  a  revival  of  the  Communist  Workers  Alliance  agita- 
tions of  a  decade  ago. 

Today  in  California,  Harry  Bridges,  Philip  M.  Connelly,  Hugh 
Bryson,  Jeff  Kibre,  Carl  Brant,  William  Elconin,  Rose  Segure,  Dorothy 
(Ray)  Healy,  and  many  others,  all  Communists,  hold  influential  posi- 
tions in  our  American  trade  unions  to  propagandize  the  Communist  line 
of  the  Struggle  Against  Imperialist  War,  just  as  they  propagandized  the 
Communist  line  of  "The  Yanks  Are  Not  Coming"  in  1939. 

Today  in  California,  these  same  Communist  trade  union  leaders 
will  be  found  in  the  same  Communist  " peace"  movements  and  " support 
and  defense  of  known  Commmiists"  movements  with  such  familiar 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  147 

Stalinist  figures  as  Ellis  E.  Patterson,  Carey  McWilliams,  Reuben  W. 
Borough  and  Frank  Scully. 

In  1940,  Ellis  E.  Patterson  headed  the  so-called  "Patterson  slate" 
in  the  Democratic  primary  election.  Their  campaign  denounced  Presi- 
dent Franklin  D.  Roosevelt  as  "an  imperialist  warmonger"  and  a 
"betrayer  of  the  interests  of  the  workers."  On  the  "Patterson  slate," 
which  opposed  President  Roosevelt  in  the  1940  primary  elections  on  the 
Democratic  ticket  with  the  slogan:  "No  Arms,  No  Aid,  to  Britain  and 
France,  Down  with  Imperialist  War ' ' ;  were :  Philip  M.  Connelly,  Carey 
McWilliams,  Reuben  W.  Borough  and  Frank  Scully. 

Today  in  California  these  same  individuals  and  the  Stalinist  domi- 
nated organizations  and  cliques  they  influence,  are  denouncing  President 
Harry  S  Truman  as  "an  imperialist  warmonger,"  just  as  they 
denounced  President  Franklin  T).  Roosevelt  in  1939  and  1940. 

Today  we  have  a  National  Council  of  the  Arts,  Sciences  and  Profes- 
sions, a  Communist  front,  composed  of  persons  with  long  records  of  affili- 
ation and  participation  in  Communist  fronts  and  causes,  promoting 
"Cultural  Conferences  for  Peace,"  which  are  cited  in  detail  in  a  subse- 
quent section  of  this  1949  Fifth  Report. 

A  decade  ago  we  had  the  American  League  Against  War  and 
Fascism,  which  disappeared  overnight  with  the  signing  of  the  Hitler- 
Stalin  Pact,  only  to  pop  up  in  a  new  disguise  as  the  American  League  for 
Peace  and  Democracy,  with  such  other  fronts  as  The  American  Peace 
Crusade  and  the  American  Peace  Mobilization,  which  picketed  the  White 
House,  and  promoted  "Yanks  Are  Not  Coming"  rallies  in  every  major 
city  in  California. 

Today  we  have  in  California  a  large  corps  of  veterans  of  actual 
combat  under  Communist  direction,  in  the  Communist  front,  the  Vet- 
erans of  the  Abraham  Lincoln  Brigade,  which  is  combined  with  gradu- 
ates of  the  Lenin  School  of  Revolution  in  Moscow,  and  Communist 
veterans  of  our  own  Office  of  Strategic  Service — the  OSS — in  a  secret 
reserve  organization  of  the  Red  Army,  which  is  described  in  detail  in  a 
subsequent  section  of  this  report  under  the  heading,  Important 
Communist  Front  Activity. 

Today  we  have  in  California  a  new  and  disguised  Communist  youth 
agitation  and  propaganda  program,  carried  oil  in  our  colleges  by  such 
new  Communist  fronts  as  Young  Progressives  and  Student  Councils  for 
Academic  Freedom,  (organized  originally  to  support  and  defend  Com- 
munist college  professors)  and  New  Foundations  Forums. 

In  1939  and  1940  we  had  the  American  Youth  Congress  and  the 
American  Student  Union,  which  staged  "peace  strikes"  on  college 
campuses  and  promoted  anti-preparedness  demonstrations. 

Celeste  Strack,  Aubrey  Grossman,  James  Burf  ord,  and  many  others, 
all  Communists,  and  all  veterans  of  the  Communist  youth  movements  of 
a  decade  ago,  today  are  actively  participating  as  Communist  function- 
aries in  the  same  familiar  pattern  of  the  Marxist-Leninist  Struggle 
Against  Imperialist  War. 

Today  we  have  the  same  familiar  Communist  attorneys  defending 
the  same  familiar  lineup  of  Communist  individuals  and  organizations 
and  presenting  the  same  familial  Comnmnisl  tactic  of  smearing  those 
who  investigate,  expose,  indict,  prosecute  or  convict  Communists. 


148  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

Today  the  major  Communist  organization  to  support  and  defend 
known  Communists,  who  are  indicted,  arrested,  prosecuted,  investigated 
or  exposed  as  potential  traitors  or  as  law  violators,  is  the  Communist 
front,  the  Civil  Rights  Congress. 

A  decade  ago  your  committee  reported  on  the  identical  activities  of 
the  principal  Communist  front  organization  for  support  and  defense  of 
known  Communists.  International  Labor  Defense.  Later,  your  committee 
reported  how  International  Labor  Defense  was  abandoned  in  1940  in 
favor  of  the  National  Federation  for  Constitutional  Liberties,  which 
divided  its  Communist  defense  duties  with  the  National  Lawyers '  Guild, 
which  the  Communists  had  created  in  1937. 

Today  the  National  Lawyers '  Guild  still  is  with  us,  but  the  National 
Federation  for  Constitutional  Liberties,  which  also  had  outlived  its  use- 
fulness, has  been  succeeded  by  the  Civil  Rights  Congress,  which  is 
described  in  detail  in  the  subsequent  section  of  this  report,  titled 
Important  Communist  Front  Activity. 

This  is  a  consistent  pattern  of  pro-Communist  and  anti-American 
activity  over  a  period  of  more  than  ten  years  that  can  be  traced  as 
precisely  as  a  family  genealogy. 

All  of  these  individuals  and  all  of  these  organizations  are  dedicated 
openly  to  Marxism-Leninism,  which  is  a  theory  of  how  to  overthrow 
government  by  force  and  violence  and  they  have  been  consistent  in 
support  and  defense  of  the  Soviet  Union,  as  the  center  of  the  world 
revolutionary  movement,  in  the  Seventh  Period  of  Communist  Strategy 
in  the  United  States  and  in  the  operation  of  the  Communist  line  of  the 
Struggle  Against  Imperialist  War. 

These  individuals  and  organizations  are  prepared  by  long  study  and 
assiduous  devotion  to  the  principles  of  Marxism-Leninism  to  attempt 
to  capitalize  on  any  economic  setbacks  or  dislocations  in  our  economy 
and  to  attempt  to  promote  and  extend  such  setbacks  and  dislocations  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Communist  goal  of  world  revolution. 

The  inflexible  commitments  and  potentially  traitorous  activities  of 
these  individuals  and  organizations  present  a  serious  problem  to  the 
Legislature  and  to  the  people  of  California. 

Your  committee  has  attempted  to  provide  in  Part  One  of  this  report 
the  sound,  factual  documentation  the  Legislature  and  the  people  of 
California  will  need  to  understand  the  seriousness  of  this  problem. 

Your  committee  presents  in  Part  Two  of  this  report  specific  and 
practical  proposals  to  meet  and  solve  the  problem  presented  to  us  by  such 
Communist  ''theory  and  practice"  as  is  cited  in  full  detail  in  this  report. 


"The  Communist  Party  is  the  conscious  expression  of  the  class  struggle  of 
the  workers  against  capitalism.  Its  aim  is  to  direct  this  struggle  to  the  conquest 
of  political  power,  the  overthrow  of  capitalism  and  the  destruction  of  the 
bourgeois  state.  The  Communist  Party  prepares  itself  for  revolution  in  the 
measure  that  it  develops  a  program  of  immediate  action,  expressing  the  mass 
struggles  of  the  proletariat.  These  struggles  must  be  inspired  with  revolutionary 
spirit  and  purpose.  The  Communist  Party  directs  the  workers'  struggle  against 
capitalism,  developing  fuller  forms  and  purposes  in  this  struggle,  culminating 
in  the  mass  action  of  revolution." 

MANIFESTO  OF  THE  COMMUNIST  PARTY,  U.  S.  A.,  Chicago,  III., 
Organization  Convention,  September  1-7,  1919 


THE  MAJOR  LEGISLATIVE  AND  LEGAL  PROBLEM 

The  Communist  Party  of  the  U.S.A.  announced  itself  to  the  world 
in  September.  1919  as  an  open  advocate  of  overthrow  of  government  by 
force  and  violence  and  as  an  agent  and  affiliate  of  the  Soviet  Russian 
inspired  world  Communist  movement — teaching,  practicing  and  advo- 
cating Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism. 

Your  committee  has  assembled  here  in  one  section  of  this  report 
the  documented  proof  that  the  CPUS  A  consistently  and  continuously  to 
this  day  has  been  an  agent  of  a  foreign  power  and  an  advocate  of  over- 
throw of  government  by  force  and  violence. 

The  California  Senate  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities  care- 
fully has  observed  the  subversive  activities  and  Communist  Party  line 
changes  in  strategy  and  tactics  employed  by  the  Communist  Party  of 
the  United  States  that  have  run  parallel  to  and  supplemented  the  basic 
strategy  and  tactics  of  world  Communism  as  outlined  in  detail  in  the 
opening  section  of  this  report. 

In  this  study  the  committee  has  had  access  to  confidential  reports 
and  information,  in  addition  to  the  published — but  not  widely  enough 
circulated — reports  of  legislative  committees  and  agencies  concerned 
with  various  phases  of  the  subversive  problem. 

The  broad  general  long  range  basic  facts  about  Communism  already 
have  been  presented  to  the  Legislature  and  to  the  people  of  California  in 
the  committee's  previous  four  reports.  In  this  connection,  the  commit- 
tee reprints  as  a  reminder  a  few  words  from  the  1948  Report : 

The  1948  Report  on  Communist  Fronts 
"The  committee  has  determined  that  the  most  important  continuing 
functions  of  the  Communist  Party  in  a  nation  not  yet  dominated  by  a 
Red  Fascist  dictatorship,  are  to  defend  the  Communist  holy  land,  Soviel 

(149) 


150  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

Russia,  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  time  when  the  Communist  leaders 
shall  decide  that  circumstances  justiiy  an  open  bid  for  power  through 
violent  revolution  and  establishment  of  a  'dictatorship  of  the  pro- 
letariat. ' 

' '  In  contrast  to  the  blindness  and  apathy  of  citizens  who  are  opposed 
to  Communism,  the  Red  Fascists  do  not  delude  themselves  that  their  two 
basic  functions  can  be  carried  on  effectively  by  making  speeches  and 
passing  resolutions. 

"Communists  work  day  and  night  at  the  practical  job  of  infiltrating 
existing  organizations,  so  that  they  may  be  in  a  position  to  manipulate 
it  to  their  purpose.  They  are  busy  creating  new  organizations  for  their 
purpose  when  none  exist. 

"Behind  a  propaganda  barrage  of  progress,  reform  and  liberal 
slogans,  the  Communists  steadily  pursue  a  formal,  dogmatic,  organized 
program  of  infiltration  into,  and  creation  of,  mass  organizations,  because 
they  are  studious,  fanatical  and  single-minded  in  their  service  to  Soviet 
foreign  policy  and  the  preparation  for  revolution  in  the  country  where 
they  live. 

' '  The  committee  has  carried  on  a  continuous  program  of  investiga- 
tion, research  and  public  exposure  of  Communism  and  of  the  methods 
that  Communists  inevitably  must  pursue  to  work  toward  their  self- 
declared  objectives. 

"In  its  public  reports,  issued  in  1943,  1945  and  1947,  the  committee 
has  sought  to  present  to  the  people  of  California  a  clear,  unbiased  state- 
ment of  the  purposes  and  objectives,  the  tactics  and  methods  of  world 
Communism,  of  Communist  organizations  in  the  United  States;  and 
particularly,  of  Communist  organizations  in  California. 

' '  Since  1941  the  committee  has  procured  and  made  available  to  the 
people  of  California  a  huge  mass  of  factual  material,  taken  from  official 
Communist  documents,  publications,  textbooks,  communications  and 
confidential  party  instructions  and  decisions. 

' '  In  addition,  the  accumulated  testimony  of  witnesses  now  consists  of 
10,000  pages  of  sworn  testimony,  contained  in  41  transcript  volumes  and 
augmented  by  an  unusually  voluminous  number  of  exhibits. 

' '  Sworn  testimony  of  known  Communist  functionaries  has  been  com- 
bined with  authorized  Communist  texts  into  a  record  that  reveals,  beyond 
question  or  dispute,  the  theories,  purposes,  objectives,  techniques  and 
methods  of  Communism. 

' '  From  this  mass  of  testimony  and  documentation,  the  committee  has 
selected  the  most  indispensable  material  for  inclusion  within  the  limited 
space  afforded  in  three  biennial  reports.  Because  of  the  current  nature  of 
the  organizations  and  issues  that  have  been  under  investigation,  it  hith- 
erto has  not  been  possible  to  present  a  specific,  complete  explanation  and 
compilation  on  the  subject  of  the  front  organization  as  a  major  weapon 
in  the  arsenal  of  Communist  plotting  and  intrigue. 

"The  committee  is  of  the  opinion,  therefore,  that  one  of  the  most 
important  services  it  can  render  the  Members  of  the  Legislature  and  the 
people  of  California  at  this  time  is  to  present  a  definitive  explanation  of 
the  Communist  front  organization ;  an  analysis  which  will  provide,  within 
one  concise  and  factual  compilation,  the  material  that  public  officials, 
police  agencies,  journalists  and  leaders  of  all  organized  segments  of  the 
community  must  have  readily  available  to  them  in  authoritative  form  if 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  151 

they  are  to  carry  out  their  obligations  to  their  organizations,  their  State 
and  their  Nation  in  meeting  the  problems  raised  by  the  Red  Fascist  con- 
spiracy within  the  United  States. 

"For  the  documented,  detailed  reports,  the  Members  of  the  Legis- 
lature and  the  citizens  of  California  are  referred  to  the  committee's  1943, 
1945,  and  1947  reports. " 

The  Goals  op  Communism 

' '  Communists  become-  Communists  to  do  something,  not  merely  to 
join  and  meet  together.  Regardless  of  how  critical  the  citizen  of  any 
country  may  be  of  policies,  conditions  and  leadership  Avithin  that  country, 
he  thinks  a  long  time  before  he  faces  the  naked  fact  of  revolution  through 
violence.  Communists  know  this ;  and  consequently,  while  the  hard  core 
of  veteran  revolutionaries  who  run  Communist  Parties  are  working 
toward  the  twin  goals  of  serving  the  foreign  policy  of  Soviet  Russia  and 
preparing  for  revolutionary  seizure  of  power  in  their  own  country,  they 
seek  to  carry  out  these  twin  programs  through  subterfuge  and  trickery. 
They  have  become  adept  in  playing  on  the  individual's  ambitions  and 
the  complaints  of  organized  groups. 

' '  Modern  industrial  civilization  has  complicated  living  to  the  point 
where  few  individuals  are  effective  by  themselves.  The  modern  world 
provides  modes  of  political,  cultural,  economic,  and  similar  expression, 
by  group  action.  Frequently,  individual  competition  is  supplanted  or 
supplemented  by  group  competition.  This  grouping  of  people  for  joint 
action  is  more  or  less  effective,  more  or  less  democratic,  and  more  or  less 
constructive,  according  to  the  character,  integrity  and  ability  of  those 
who  achieve  positions  of  leadership  through  the  inevitable  processes  of 
promotion,  appointment,  selection  and  election  in  organized  groups. 

"The  Communist  Party  scientifically  charts  this  organization  into 
groups  in  modern  civilization  and  it  plans  and  works  to  capture  control 
of  key  positions  when  possible.  When  this  method  fails  the  Communists 
work  to  nullify  and  make  impotent  the  leadership  of  groups  it  cannot 
infiltrate  or  control,  through  'rank-and-file'  disruption  and  confusion. 

"Communist  confusion  is  an  organized  and  planned  confusion  and 
its  ultimate  goal  is  to  develop  the  ability  to  create  the  maximum  of  con- 
fusion at  the  time  when  Communist  strategy  decrees  an  open  bid  for 
power  through  revolutionary  violence. 

"In  the  scientific  blueprint  for  revolution  that  is  laid  down  in  official 
Communist  textbooks  and  taught  in  the  Communist  schools,  interminable 
analysis  and  study  is  given  to  the  technique  of  manipulating  organized 
groups  toward  the  eventual  belief  that  they  cannot  solve  their  particular 
problems  or  achieve  their  particular  objectives  within  the  framework  and 
limitations  of  a  capitalist  economy  and  a  parliamentary  government.  The 
final  goal  of  Communist  infiltration  into  organized  groups  is  to  dominate 
the  sentiment  of  such  groups — running  the  gamut  from  ignorant  apathy 
to  active  acceptance — for  the  purpose  of  permitting  the  hardened  core  of 
revolutionaries  to  seize  power  at  the  proper  time. 

"For  this  purpose  in  the  long  range  Communist  plan,  an  apathetic, 
inert  organization,  incapable  of  united  and  decisive  action  in  a  crisis,  is 
just  as  valuable  as  an  organization  that  is  enthusiastically  working  to 
serve  the  Communist  program.  Either  attitude  serves  the  purposes  of  the 
Red  Fascist  conspiracy. 


152  un-american  activities  in  california 

Temporary  Communist  Strategy 

' '  However,  pending  the  long-range  program  of  eventual  world-wide 
'dictatorship  of  the  proletariat'  Communist  strategists  study  and  work 
to  put  into  effect  temporary,  immediate  popular,  localized  and  special 
purpose-policies  and  projects. 

"The  creation  and  conduct  of  such  policies  and  projects  make  up 
what  has  come  to  be  known  as  the  '  Communist  party  line. ' 

4 '  The  '  party  line '  consists  of  the  immediate  policies  of  the  moment, 
which  frequently  are  contradictory.  Sometimes  it  will  center  on  popular 
issues.  Again,  it  wall  center  on  generally  unpopular  issues.  But,  invari- 
ably, it  follows  a  pattern  that  consistently  involves  the  members  of  labor, 
liberal,  minority  and  cultural  groups.  The  over-all  purpose  is  to  establish 
the  'vanguard'  position  of  Communism  and  to  pose  as  the  only  true 
friend  of  the  '  struggling  masses. ' 

' '  Even  when  Communists,  in  pursuing  the  devious  twists  and  turns 
of  the  'party  line,'  are  disrupting  and  confusing  formal,  considered 
policies  of  labor,  liberal  and  minority  organizations,  they  consistently 
direct  smear  campaigns  at  the  responsible  leaders  of  the  organizations 
in  question. 

' '  Front  organizations  are  indispensable  to  such  a  program.  The  inde- 
fatigable plotting  and  scheming  of  the  leaders  of  world  Communism  has 
developed  the  theory  and  technique  of  the  front  organization  to  the  high- 
est level  of  systematic  efficiency  in  the  world 's  history. 

' '  Communist  theory  and  technique  is  based  on  a  huge  mass  of  ana- 
lytical, historical  and  theoretical  teachings,  accumulated  since  Commu- 
nism was  launched  in  1848  with  Karl  Marx's  'Communist  Manifesto,' 
a  hundred  years  ago. 

"Much  of  it  is  openly  and  plainly  presented  to  Communists  as  a 
study  of  strategy  and  tactics  to  achieve  a  successful  revolution  and  com- 
plete seizure  of  power  under  a  'dictatorship  of  the  proletariat.'  How- 
ever, a  great  mass  of  it  is  thinly  disguised  as  history.  This  later  element 
is  particularly  valuable  to  the  teaching  of  Marxist  revolutionary  doc- 
trines, where  Communists  are  obliged  to  conduct  their  proselyting  and 
organizing  surreptitiously. ' ' 

1948  Report  Named  172  Fronts 

Your  committee,  in  pursuance  of  this  viewpoint  and  analysis  of 
Communist-front  activity,  presented  to  the  Legislature  and  to  the  people 
of  California  in  its  1948  Fourth  Report  the  most  comprehensive  technical 
analysis  of  the  function  and  theory  of  Communist-front  organization 
activity  ever  published,  in  the  section  from  page  23  to  page  89  of  the 
1948  Fourth  Report. 

The  committee  also  presented  a  special  section,  arranged  in  alpha- 
betical order,  of  the  essential  facts  about  172  important  Communist-front 
organizations  and  organizations  seriously  infiltrated  by  Communists,  in 
the  section  from  page  91  to  page  393  of  the  1948  Fourth  Report. 

Reaction  to  the  1948  Fourth  Report 
Your  committee  finds  that  the  basic  facts  outlined  and  cited  in  the 
]948  Fourth  Report  have  stood  the  test  of  time  and  severe  hostile  study 
and  attack.  The  essential  theory  of  Communist  strategy  and  tactics,  ana- 
lyzed bv  the  committee,  remains  the  same.  The  front  activities  that  were 


UN-AMERICAN   ACTIVITIES   IN   CALIFORNIA  153 

exposed  by  the  committee  have  continued  in  abject  subservience  to  the 
program  of  world  Communism,  with  only  two  exceptions : 

(1)  Some  of  the  front  activities  have  been  liquidated  and  replaced 
by  others  in  the  continuing-  Communist  strategy  of  duplicity 
and  trickery ;  and 

(2)  A  very  small  number  of  honest  errors  of  nomenclature  and 
identification  crept  into  the  voluminous  1948  Fourth  Report; 
and  these  are  dealt  with  in  a  special  section,  titled  Repudia- 
tions and  Condemnations  of  Communism,  which  will  be  found 
on  Pages  687-700  in  Part  Two  of  this  current  report. 

The  Major  Legislative  and  Legal  Problem 
Your  committee  finds  that  the  most  important  task  involving  Com- 
munism in  the  United  States  generally  today  is  the  achievement  of  an 
accurate  decision  on  legislative  and  legal  determinations  of  two  pressing 
basic  problems  that  can  be  stated  in  the  form  of  questions : 

(1)  Is  the  Communist  Party  of  the  U.  S.  A.  an  agent  of  a  foreign 
power ;  and 

(2)  Is  the  Communist  Party  of  the  U.  S.  A.  an  advocate  of  over- 
throw of  government  (including  the  Government  of  the  United 
States)  by  force  and  violence? 

The  present  world  situation,  as  outlined  in  the  preceding  section  of 
this  report,  is  of  such  pressing  and  crucial  importance  to  the  fate  of 
humanity;  and  the  United  States  is  in  such  a  keystone  position  in  the 
non-Communist  sphere,  that  these  questions  must  be  answered  precisely, 
clearly  and  effectively  for  the  purpose  of  devoting  the  most  constructive 
study  to  the  enactment  of  legislation  in  our  State  which  will  provide  to 
our  institutions  every  necessary  protection  from  Communist  conspiracy. 

These  questions  must  be  answered  conclusively  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  Members  of  the  Legislature  and  of  the  people  of  California  if  we 
are  to  achieve  desperately  needed  protective  legislation. 

Your  committee,  therefore,  has  prepared  a  digest  with  amendments 
and  revisions  of  two  of  the  most  important  congressional  documents 
available  on  these  important  subjects : 

(1)  House  Report  No.  209,  Eightieth  Congress,  First  Session. 
which  deals  with  the  question  of  "The  Communist  Party  of  tin- 
United  States  as  an  Agent  of  a  Foreign  Power ' ' ;  and 

(2)  House  Report,  No.  1920,  Eightieth  Congress,  Second  Session, 
which  deals  with  ' '  The  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States 
as  an  Advocate  of  Overthrow  of  Government  by  Force  and 
Violence. ' ' 

The  committee,  after  careful  study,  and  independent  research,  much 
of  which  has  been  presented  and  documented  in  the  194.'}.  194").  1!)47.  and 
1948  Reports  of  your  committee,  concurs  in  and  adopts  as  its  own  findings 
all  findings  contained  in  selections  or  abstracts  from  these  congressional 
documents. 

Your  committee,  in  addition,  presents  in  Part  Two  of  this  report 
further  findings  and  recommendations  bearing  on  1 1n*  Communist  prob- 
lem and  the  need  for  constructive,  sound  and  effective  legislation  to 
answer  the  threat  posed  to  our  institutions  and  to  our  freedoms  and 
liberties  by  the  Communist  conspiracy. 


154  un-american  activities  in  california 

The  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  Is  an 
Agent  of  a  Foreign  Power 

Introduction 

It  is  the  unanimous  opinion  of  this  committee  that  the  Communist 
Party  of  the  United  States  is  in  fact  the  agent  of  a  foreign  government. 

It  is  important  that  the  Government  and  the  people  recognize 
this  fact. 

If  the  Communist  Party  is  to  be  properly  dealt  with,  it  is  essential 
that  legislation  by  Congress  and  the  state  legislatures,  and  the  thinking 
of  the  people  be  predicated  upon  this  fundamental  fact.  The  purpose  of 
this  report  is  to  straighten  the  thinking  of  the  American  people  and  the 
Government  concerning  the  Communist  Party  and  to  dispel  the  idea 
that  it  is  a  domestic  political  party,  or  that  it  is  a  minority  group  oper- 
ating within  the  democratic  framework  of  our  Constitution. 

It  is  the  object  of  this  report  to  establish  from  documentary  sources 
the  fact  that  from  its  inception  in  September  1919  to  the  present  day, 
the  Communist  movement  of  the  United  States  may  be  properly  char- 
acterized as — 

(1)  An  organization  operating  under  centralized  discipline  subor- 
dinated to  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  the  single 
and  ruling  party  of  that  country. 

(2)  A  section  of  a  World  Communist  Party,  controlled  by  the  Com- 
munist Party  of  the  Soviet  Union. 

(3)  An  organization  whose  basic  aim,  whether  open  or  concealed,  is 
the  abolition  of  our  present  economic  system  and  democratic 
form  of  government  and  the  establishment  of  a  Soviet  dicta- 
torship in  its  place. 

(4)  An  organization  resorting  to  deception,  evasion,  illegal  meth- 
ods, violence,  and  civil  war,  which  methods  are  implicit  in  its 
revolutionary  purpose. 

When  the  Communist  organization  was  an  insignificant  sect  relying 
for  its  chief  inspiration  and  support  upon  the  comparatively  weak  Soviet 
Government  of  15  or  20  years  ago,  it  was  felt  that  its  activities  could  be 
safely  ignored,  that  the  free  play  of  our  democratic  process. would  ulti- 
mately cushion  and  vitiate  its  efforts. 

In  1949,  however,  Ave  find  this  totalitarian  bridgehead  firmly 
entrenched  in  the  labor  movement,  the  Government,  political  parties, 
the  press,  radio  and  films,  the  schools  and  colleges,  the  churches  and 
social  organizations. 

Its  influence  is  far  out  of  proportion  to  its  membership,  due  to  its 
discipline,  its  control  of  strategic  posts  in  mass  organizations,  and  its 
ties  with  the  Soviet  Government,  which  today  enjoys  unprecedented 
standing  as  a  world  power. 

In  recent  times,  the  Soviet  Government  has  repeatedly  demonstrated 
its  ability  to  transform  hitherto  insignificant  Communist  minorities  into 
ruling  parties  (Rumania,  Hungary,  Yugoslavia,  Bulgaria,  Poland, 
Estonia,  Latvia,  Lithuania).  Even  in  countries  not  under  direct  Soviet 
military  occupation,  the  former  Communist  minority  is  making  an  open 
bid  for  power  (Belgium,  Italy,  France,  Denmark,  China). 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  155 

In  view  of  the  expansionist  attitude  of  the  Soviet  Government 
clearly  demonstrated  in  its  recent  history,  these  countries  furnish  us 
with  an  instructive  social  laboratory.  (For  detailed  analysis,  see  pages 
102-128.) 

Our  own  country  is  far  from  immune  to  the  operations  of  the  sub- 
versive and  aggressive  Communist  movement.  In  the  light  of  our  own 
highly  integrated  and  sensitive  society,  it  is  well  within  the  bounds  of 
practical  possibility,  that  if  the  present  potentialities  of  the  American 
Communist  movement  were  fully  mobilized  for  a  supreme  subversive 
effort  and  these  potentialities  were  given  substantial  aid  from  a  strong 
foreign  power,  they  could  seriously  dislocate  our  economic  and  social 
life  and  even  the  effectiveness  of  our  armed  forces. 

An  elementary  regard  for  our  sovereignty  as  a  Nation  and  the 
interests  of  national  security,  require  as  a  minimum  that  the  nature  of 
the  Communist  movement  he  fully  analyzed  and  understood. 

I.  Origin  and  Background 
The  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  is  a  section  of  the  inter- 
national Communist  movement  founded  by  Vladimir  Ilyich  Lenin  dur- 
ing the  First  World  War.  His  motives  in  launching  this  organization 
may  be  roughly  classified  as  twofold  in  character : 

(1)  Offensive — He  sought  to  destroy  the  capitalist  system  and 
the  governments  under  which  it  operates  in  order  to  absorb  the 
nations  of  the  world  within  the  Union  of  Socialist  Soviet  Republics. 

(2)  Defensive— He  sought  to  safeguard  the  interest  of  the 
then  weak  Soviet  Government,  by  diverting  hostile  nations  through 
the  promotion  of  internal  disorder. 

The  Communist  movement  today  remains  essentially  devoted  to 
these  mutually  complementary  aims. 

The  first  Congress  of  the  Communist  International  took  place  on 
March  2,  1919  in  Moscow.  Incorporated  into  its  very  fibre  was  the  fol- 
lowing principle  which  later  became  number  fourteen  of  the  famous 
"twenty-one  points"  governing  admission  to  the  Communist  Interna- 
tional, adopted  by  the  Second  Congress,  July  17-August  7,  1920 : 

Legal  and  Illegal   Means 

Each  party  desirous  of  affiliating  with  the  Communist  International  should  be 
obliged  to  render  every  possible  assistance  to  the  Soviet  Republics  in  their  struggle 
against  all  counterrevolutionary  forces.  The  Communist  Parties  should  carry  on  a 
precise  and  definite  propaganda  to  induce  the  workers  to  refuse  to  transport  any  kind 
of  military  equipment  intended  for  fighting  against  the  Soviet  Republics,  and  should 
also  by  legal  or  illegal  means  carry  on  a  propaganda  amongst  the  troops  sent  against 
the  workers'  republics,  etc. 

II.  Theory 

Communist  theory  is  based  upon  the  teachings  of  Karl  Marx, 
founder  of  the  First  International;  Friedrich  Engels,  his  closest  asso- 
ciate; Vladimir  Ilyich  Lenin,  founder  of  the  Third  or  Communist  Inter- 
national and  first  Premier  of  the  Soviet  Government ;  and  Joseph  Stalin, 
his  successor. 

From  the  time  of  its  foundation  in  1919  to  the  present,  the  Amer- 
ican Communist  movement  has  pledged  its  loyalty  to  these  teachings, 


15b*  UN-AMERICAN   ACTIVITIES   IN   CALIFORNIA 

as  have  the  Communist  Parties  of  all  countries.  These  teachings  are 
embodied  in  the  Program  of  the  Communist  International  adopted  in 
July- August  1928  as  a  "uniform  and  common  program  for  all  sections 
of  the  Communist  International. ' '  and  never  repudiated. 

The  Communist  Party  member  is  thoroughly  indoctrinated  with 
the  fundamentals  of  Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism,  through  the  Commu- 
nist press,  pamphlets,  books,  meetings,  and  schools.  The  purpose  of  this 
indoctrination  is  manifold. 

(Turn  to  page  615  for  numerous  illustrations  of  Communist 

official  literature.) 

It  serves  to  mold  a  uniform,  Communist  consciousness,  thus  setting 
l  his  totalitarian  sect  definitely  apart  from  all  democratically  minded 
Americans.  It  is  the  authoritative  frame  of  reference  for  all  Communists. 

The  Communist  movement  is  primarily  a  combative  organization 
dedicated  to  the  struggle  against  those  whom  it  looks  upon  as  class 
enemies.  It,  therefore,  operates  on  strict  military  lines.  Indoctrination 
serves  this  army,  as  it  does  any  other,  as  a  cohesive  factor.  Its  professed 
aims  tend  to  glorify  the  movement  and  build  up  the  morale  of  its 
followers. 

Communist  theory  exalts  and  perpetuates  the  authority  of  its  lead- 
ers, for  it  claims  to  present  a  body  of  unassailable  scientific  principles  of 
which  the  Communist  leader  is  the  sole  authorized  spokesman  and  inter- 
preter. Any  deviation  from  the  principles  of  Marxism-Leninism-Stalin- 
ism, as  most  recently  interpreted  by  the  leader,  is  subject  to  severe 
penalties  all  the  way  from  censure  and  expulsion  to  physical  liquidation. 

For  a  detailed  and  broad  analysis  of  the  general  Theory  and  Practice 
of  World  Communism,  to  which  the  U.  S.  Communist  Party  faithfully  has 
adhered  without  deviation ;  and  for  the  application  of  this  theory  into 
Strategy  and  Tactics,  the  committee  refers  the  reader  to  pages  12  to  83 
in  the  preceding  section,  titled  The  World  Situation. 

III.  Stages  in  the  History  of  the  American  Communist 
Movement 

On  September  18,  1945,  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States 
celebrated  its  twenty-sixth  anniversary  at  Madison  Square  Garden  in 
New  York  City.  Despite  the  varied  forms  the  American  Communist  move- 
ment has  taken  since  its  inception  in  September  1919,  the  Madison  Square 
Garden  meeting  has  furnished  a  concrete  expression  of  the  unbroken  con- 
tinuity of  the  movement  in  both  organization  and  principle. 

The  Communist  Party  of  America  held  its  first  convention  from 
September  1  to  7,  1919,  at  the  headquarters  of  the  Russian  Federation 
of  the  Socialist  Party  in  Chicago.  The  call  for  the  meeting  was  published 
in  the  (Russian)  Novy  Mir,  on  July  7,  1919,  and  in  the  Revolutionary 
Age  of  August  23,  1919,  both  being  Left  Wing  Socialist  organs.  It  called 
upon  all  those  who  favored  an  ' '  International  alliance  of  the  Socialist 
movement  of  the  United  States  only  with  the  Communist  groups  of  other 
countries"  to  answer  "the  clarion  call  of  the  Third  International." 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  157 

CHRONOLOGY  OF   U.  S.  (O.MMfNIST  CONVENTIONS 

September  1-7,  1919 Communist  Party  of  America 

September  1-7,  1919 Communist  Labor  Tarty  of  America 

May,  1921 United  Communist  Party  of  America 

December  23-26,  1921 Workers  Party  of  America 

August  17-21,  1922 Communist  Party  of  America 

December,  1922 Workers  Party  of  America 

December  23,  1923  To  January  1.  1!>24 Workers  Party  of  America 

August  21-30.  1925 Workers  (Communist)  Party  of  America 

October,  1927 Workers  (Communist)  Party  of  America 

March  1-10,  1929 Workers  (Communist)  Party  of  America 

March  31-April  4,  1930 Communist  Party  of  the  United  States 

April  2-S,  1934 Communist  Party  of  the  United  States 

June  24-2S,  1936 Communist  Party  of  the  United  States 

.Max  27-31, 1938 Communist  Party  of  the  United  States 

May  30  to  June  2,  1940 Communist  Party  of  the  United  States 

May  20-22, 1944 Communist  Political  Association 

July  26-28,  194". Communist  Party  of  the  United  States 

September,  1948 Communist  Party  of  the  United  States 

A  large  group  of  English-speaking  delegates  headed  by  Benjamin 
Gitlow  and  John  Reed,  resented  the  predominance  of  Russian-speaking 
elements  at  the  1919  convention  and  decided  to  split  away.  They  held 
their  own  convention,  almost  simultaneously,  in  Chicago  and  formed  the 
Communist  Labor  Party.  Both  groups  were  represented  as  the  Second 
Congress  of  the  Communist  International  held  in  the  summer  of  1920. 

Veterans  of  these  two  conventions  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
ago,  hold  key  positions  in  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States 
today. 

Alexander  Bittleman,  member  of  the  Program  Committee  of  the 
Communist  Party  of  America  convention,  is  today  a  member  of  the 
National  Board  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States,  and  editor 
of  its  official  Yiddish  organ,  the  Morning  Freiheit.  Alfred  Wagenknecht, 
elected  Executive  Secretary  of  the  Communist  Labor  Party,  is  presently 
Vice  President  of  the  Illinois-Indiana  district  and  a  member  of  the  Review 
Commission  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States.  Charles  Krum- 
bein,  another  C.  L.  P.  delegate,  was,  until  his  death  in  February,  1917, 
national  treasurer.  Earl  Browder  and  Ella  Reeve  Bloor,  who  is  now  a 
National  Board  member,  were  charter  members  of  the  Communist  Labor 
Party. 

A  special  convention  of  the  United  Communist  Party  was  held 
secretly  in  May,  1921,  which  constituted  itself  as  the  "American  Section 
of  the  Communist  International. ' '  The  raids  conducted  by  Attorney  Gen- 
eral A.  Mitchell  Palmer  had  driven  the  party  underground.  All  delegates 
assumed  aliases.  Israel  Amter,  alias  Ford,  was  elected  as  an  alternate 
member  of  the  Central  Executive  Committee,  lie  is  today  a  member  of 
the  National  Board  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States. 

The  Communist  International  was,  however,  unwilling  to  allow  the 
American  Communists  to  limit  themselves  to  illegal  activity.  The  Third 
Congress  of  the  Communist  International  held  in  Moscow  in  June-July, 
1921,  therefore  issued  the  following  directive  to  its  American  affiliate  : 

The  Communist  Internationa]  draws  the  attention  <>!'  the  Communist  Party  of 
America  (united)  to  the  fact  that  the  illegal  organization  must  nol  only  form  the 
ground  for  the  collection  and  crystalization  of  active  Communist  forces,  bu1  that  it  is 

their  duty  to  try  all  ways  and  means  to  gel  out  of  their  illegalized  condition  out  into 
the  open,  among  tin-  wide  masses,  that  it  is  their  duty  tu  find  the  means  and  form  to 
unite  these  masses  politically  through  public  activity  into  the  struggle  agaiisl  Ameri- 
can capitalism.  <  Communist,  August,  1921. 1 


158  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

Conformance  with  this  edict  was  immediate.  The  next  issue  of  the 
Communist,  official  organ  of  the  Communist  Party  of  America,  carried  an 
article  under  the  alias  of  Koger  B.  Nelson,  entitled  ''The  Party  at  the 
Crossroads, ' '  from  which  we  quote  in  part : 

Our  Central  Executive  Committee,  conscious  of  its  duties  and  the  pressing  needs 
of  the  Communist  International  and  the  Party,  has  laid  the  foundation  for  unifying 
and  centralizing  the  open,  legal  activities  of  the  Party  *  *  *.  In  doing  this  we  are 
simply  accepting  the  tactics  adopted  by  the  Third  Congress  of  the  Comintern.  (Com- 
munist, September,  1921.) 

In  pursuance  of  the  Comintern  mandate,  the  party  established  the 
American  Labor  Alliance,  as  its  open,  legal  expression.  This  was  reported 
to  the  secret  convention  of  the  Communist  Party  of  America  held  at 
Bridgman,  Michigan,  on  August  17-21,  1921,  by  Jay  Lovestone,  alias 
Wheat,  its  Executive  Secretary.  Instructions  from  the  Third  Interna- 
tional were  personally  transmitted  by  Max  Bedacht,  alias  Marshall, 
American  delegate  to  its  Third  Congress.  He  was  till  recently  General 
Secretary  of  the  International  Workers  Order,  a  wealthy  Communist 
fraternal  organization. 

This  form  was  not  considered  satisfactory  by  the  Communist  Inter- 
national and  hence  it  was  decided  to  establish  the  Workers  Party  of 
America.  A  convention  was  called  for  this  purpose  in  New  York  City  on 
December  23-26,  1921.  At  its  second  convention  held  in  December,  1922, 
in  New  York  City,  the  Workers  Party  of  America  adopted  a  program 
presented  by  Charles  E.  Ruthenberg,  member  of  the  Central  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Communist  Party  of  America  under  the  alias  of  Damon. 
This  convention  elected  him  as  Executive  Secretary,  a  position  to  be  held 
until  March  2,  1927,  the  date  of  his  death. 

Both  the  Communist  Party  of  America  and  the  Workers  Party  of 
America  sent  delegates  to  the  Fourth  Congress  of  the  Communist  Inter- 
national held  in  Moscow,  November  7-December  3,  1922.  The  two  organi- 
zations were  eventually  merged  into  the  Workers  (Communist)  Party  of 
America  at  a  convention  held  August  21-30,  1925. 

At  the  Sixth  convention  in  New  York  City  on  March  1-10,  1928,  the 
party  assumed  the  name  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States, 
which  was  continued  until  the  convention  of  May  20-22,  1944,  at  which 
time  the  organization  transformed  itself  into  the  Communist  Political 
Association. 

To  fool  Americans,  the  party  formally  disaffiliated  itself  from  the 
Communist  International  on  November  16,  1940,  "for  the  specific  pur- 
pose of  removing  itself  from  the  terms  of  the  so-called  Voorhis  Act," 
requiring  the  registration  of  foreign  agents.  The  Communist  Interna- 
tional was  itself  formally  dissolved  on  May  22,  1943,  thus  removing  from 
the  field  of  Russian  relations  with  her  wartime  allies  a  source  of  con- 
siderable irritation. 

These  formal  severances  of  international  ties  did  not  remove  the 
American  Communists  from  foreign  influence  and  direction.  At  a  con- 
vention held  on  July  26-28,  1945,  and  in  response  to  a  letter  of  criticism 
from  Jacques  Duclos,  Secretary  of  the  Communist  Party  of  France  and 
former  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  Inter- 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  159 

national,  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  was  reconstituted 
and  Earl  Browder  was  replaced  by  William  Z.  Foster  as  its  official  leader. 
As  late  as  May  20-23,  1944,'  Robert  Minor  in  his  official  report  to 
the  founding  convention  of  the  Communist  Political  Association  empha- 
sized the  historical  ties  of  his  organization  with  the  Communist  Party  of 
America,  the  Communist  Labor  Party  and  the  Communist  International, 
when  he  spoke  of  "the  history  of  the  Communist  Party"  which  "came 
to  life  in  Chicago  in  September,  1919,  and  which  now  passes  on  its 
heritage  to  the  Communist  Political  Association."  He  added, 

It  is  doubly  important  to  emphasize  that  (lie  American  Communist  Party  found 
a  priceless  and  indispensable  source  of  strength,  clarity  of  principle — and  the  courage 
and  assurance  that  can  come  only  from  the  international  outlook  and  soundness  of 
theory — in  its  contact  with  its  brother  Communist  Parties  of  all  countries  through 
the  Communist  International. 

IV.  Russian  Communist  Party  and  the  International  Communist 
Movement 

From  its  birth  in  1917  the  international  Communist  movement 
including  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  has  been  merely  a 
foreign  extension  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  which, 
according  to  article  126  of  the  Soviet  Constitution  published  in  1941 
"is  the  leading  core  of  all  organizations  of  the  working  people,  both 
public  and  state."  (p.  36.) 

The  Communist  movement  has  maintained  this  character  since  the 
Russian  Revolution  on  November  7.  1917,  before  the  Communist  Inter- 
national was  founded  in  March,  1919,  during  its  existence  and  after  its 
formal  dissolution  in  May,  1943. 

A  proper  estimate  of  this  movement  must  be  based  upon  an  appre- 
ciation of  its  unbroken  historical  continuity,  regardless  of  outward 
tactical  changes. 

Pro-Communist  spokesmen  have  labored  arduously  to  convince  the 
American  people  that  each  Communist  Party  is  an  independent  entity 
by  itself,  rooted  in  its  own  native  soil  and  history  and  free  from  foreign 
domination  of  any  sort. 

The  May,  1938,  Constitution  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United 
States  declared,  for  example  : 

The  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  of  America  is  a  working  class  politi- 
cal party  carrying  forward  the  traditions  of  Jefferson,  Paine.  Jackson,  and  Lincoln, 
and  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  *  *  * 

Despite  these  assurances  there  is  ample  evidence  to  the  contrary. 
Walter  G.  Krivitsky,  former  Chief  of  the  Soviet  Military  Intelligence 
for  Western  Europe,  testified  on  October  11,  1939,  before  the  Special 
Committee  on  Un-American  Activities.  He  died  mysteriously  in  a  Wash- 
ington hotel  in  February,  1941.  He  stated  under  oath  before  the  Special 
Committee : 

The  Connminist  International  is  not  an  organization  of  autonomous  parties. 
The  Communist  Parties  are  nothing  more  than  branch  offices  'i'  the  Russian  Com- 
munist Party.  The  Communist  International  (bat  operates  in  Moscow  is  nothing  more 
than  an  administrative  body  which  transmits  the  decrees  reached  by  the  Political 
Bureau  of  the  Central  Committee  of  the  Communist   Party  of  Soviet  Russia. 


160  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN    CALIFORNIA 

RUSSIAN  PARTY  MODEL 

William  Z.  Foster,  chairman  of  the  National  Board  of  the  Commu- 
nist Party  of  the  United  States,  has  long  recognized  the  hegemony  of 
the  Russian  Communist  Party  over  the  movement  of  which  he  is  a  part. 
In  his  work,  Toward  Soviet  America,  he  said : 

The  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  *  *  *  is  the  American  section  of 
the  Communist  International  *  *  *  The  Communist  International  is  a  disciplined 
world  party  *  *  *  Its  leading  party,  by  virtue  of  its  great  revolutionary  experience, 
is  the  Russian  Communist  Party  (pages  258,  259). 

So  strongly  was  this  view  entrenched  that  we  find  the  Russian  Com- 
munist Party  referred  to  repeatedly  throughout  official  Communist 
literature  as  the  "model"  party  to  be  studied  and  imitated.  In  the  Daily 
Worker  of  March  5,  1939,  for  example,  we  find  a  reprint  of  the  followina 
cabled  editorial  from  the  Moscow  Pravda : 

The  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union  always  was  and  always  will  1.^  a 
model,  an  example  for  the  Communist  Parties  of  all  countries. 

The  Party  Organizer,  official  internal  organ  of  the  Communist  Party 
of  the  United  States,  intended  for  the  enlightenment  of  party  members 
only,  has  carried  the  following  sample  articles  from  time  to  time : 

Outline  for  Class  in  Organization  on  Lines  of  Russian  Model.  (December,  1927, 
p.  10.) 

How  a  Unit  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union  Works.  (February, 
l'X-M,  p.  25.) 

How  the  American  Party  Modeled  Its  Constitution  on  the  Russian  Party.  (May, 
1931,  p.  1.) 

Bolshevik  Organizational  Principles  from  an  Outline  Used  by  the  Soviet  Party 
Schools.  (March,  1931,  p.  27 ;  April,  1931,  p.  28.) 

Reporting  on  the  meeting  of  the  National  Committee  of  the  Com- 
munist Party  of  the  United  States  held  on  December  3-5,  1938,  which 
dealt  with  the  publication  of  the  History  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the 
Soviet  Union,  The  Communist  of  January,  1939,  announced: 

It  will  be  the  task  and  duty  of  the  membership  and  organizations  of  the  Com- 
munist Party  in  the  coming  months  to  organize  and  carry  through  the  distribution  of 
the  minimum  of  100,000  copies  of  this  book  (p.  3). 

(See  also,  Analysis  and  Excerpts,  pages  223-228,  of  this  Report.) 

The  party  urged  followers  "to  acquire  it,  to  have  it,  to  study  it." 

According  to  a  speech  delivered  on  February  24,  1941,  by  Earl 

Browder,  General  Secretary  of  the  Communist  Party,  "close  to  two 

hundred  thousand  copies  of  that  book  were  sold. ' ' 

At  the  Tenth  Convention  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  the 
following  leaders  of  the  Russian  Communist  Party  were  elected  to 
the  Honorary  Presidium:  Stalin,  Dimitroff,  Manuilsky,  and  Kuusineu. 
(Dai  y  Worker,  May  28,  1938,  pp.  1,  5.)  Appropriately  the  emblem  of 
the  Russian  Communist  Party,  the  American  Communist  Party  and 
Communist  parties  throughout  the  world  has  always  been  the  hammer 
;i)i(l  sickle. 

RUSSIAN   DOMINANCE 

From  the  outset  the  Russian  Communist  Party  actively  manipu- 
lated the  affairs  of  the  Communist  International  and  those  of  each 
individual,  affiliated  party.  Angelica  Balabanoff,  appointed  first  secre- 
tary of  the  Communist  International  by  the  Central  Committee  of  the 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  161 

Russian  Party,  has  described  how  the  delegates  to  its  first  Congress  were 
chosen : 

Most  of  the  thirty-five  delegates  and  fifteen  guests  had  been  hand-picked  by  the 
Russian  Central  Committee  from  so-called  "Communist  Parties"  in  those  smaller 
"nations"  which  had  formerly  comprised  the  Russian  Empire,  such  as  Estonia, 
Latvia,  Ukraine,  and  Finland  *  *  *  (My  Life  As  A  Rebel  by  Angelica  Balabanoff, 
p.  213.) 

Although  ostensibly  representing  the  Italian  party,  she  was  con- 
sidered a  member  of  the  Russian  Communist  Party  by  virtue  of  her 
residence  in  that  country,  and  hence  subject  to  its  discipline.  All  Com- 
munists, regardless  of  nationality,  residing  in  the  Soviet  Union,  enjoy 
a  similar  status,  including  American  Communists  assigned  to  Moscow 
and  such  present-day  luminaries  as  Togliatti  (Ercoli)  of  Italy,  Rakosi 
of  Hungary,  Fischer  of  Austria,  Thorez  of  France,  Pauker  of  Rumania, 
and  Dimitroff  of  Bulgaria. 

Angelica  Balabanoff  has  described  the  operation  of  Russian  Com- 
munist Party  rule  in  Comintern  matters. 

It  was  the  secret  Party  committee,  not  the  Comintern  Executive,  that  *  *  * 
issued  statements  in  my  name  (p.  224).  A  leader  or  agent  would  be  summoned  to 
Moscow  and  ordered  to  have  certain  resolutions  passed  in  his  own  party  *  *  * 
Moscow  named  all  leaders  (p.  270.)  *  *  *  I  was  now  considered  a  member  of  the 
Russian  Party  whose  delegates  were  elected  by  the  Russian  Central  Committee 
(P.  272). 

So  much  was  the  Communist  International  the  creature  of  the  Rus- 
sian Communist  Party,  that  it  was  made  the  subject  of  a  report  sub- 
mitted at  each  convention  of  that  party.  At  the  Ninth  Congress  of  the 
Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  Karl  Radek  explained  in  his 
official  report  : 

The  III  International  is  the  child  of  the  Russian  Communist  Party.  It  was 
created  here,  in  the  Kremlin,  on  the  initiative  of  the  Communist  Party  of  Russia. 
The  Executive  Committee  of  the  III  International  is  in  our  hands.  (Izvestia,  April 
3,  1920). 

This  estimate  is  corroborated  by  the  testimony  of  Benjamin  Gitlow, 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  American  Communist  Movement,  Communist 
candidate  for  Vice  President  in  1924  and  1928  and  former  member  of 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  International : 

Whereas  the  American  party  *  *  *  had  to  carry  out  decisions  of  the  Com- 
munist International  explicitly,  the  Russian  party  was  given  a  privileged  position. 
The  Russian  party  was  permitted  not  only  to  review  all  decisions  of  the  Communist 
International,  but,  if  necessary,  to  take  it  up  in  its  political  committee  and  to  change 
those  decisions  *  *  *  and  that  decision  becomes  binding  upon  the  parties  of  the 
Communist  International. 

Another  important  fact  to  bear  in  mind  is  that  *  *  *  the  rules  governing  the 
Communist  International  provide  that  whenever  a  party  sends  representatives  to  the 
Communist  International,  or  delegates  to  the  congresses  of  the  Communist  Interna- 
tional, those  delegates  cannot  be  instructed  *  *  *  but  they  must  go  to  the  Communist 
International  uninstructed.  The  only  party  that  has  the  right  to  instruct  its  delegates 
to  the  Communist  International  and  to  make  those  instructions  binding  on  the  dele- 
Kates  is  the  Russian  Communist  Party  *  *  *.  In  other  words,  they  have  built 
the  Communist  International  organization  in  such  a  way  that  the  Russians  under 
no  circumstances  can  lose  control  of  the  Communist  International.  (Hearings  of  the 
Special  Committee  on  In-American  Activities,  September  8,  1939 — Vol.  VII,  p.  4583. 1 

The  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  is  so  much  an  organic 
part  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union  I  hat  it  has  invariably 
reflected  the  factional  struggles  for  power  within  its  Soviet  parent  body. 


162  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

In  1926,  for  example,  Zinoviev  and  Trotsky  united  in  a  "Left 
Opposition"  movement  against  Joseph  Stalin.  The  Political  Committee 
of  the  "Workers  (Communist)  Party  of  America  adopted  a  resolution  on 
October  29,  1926  which  ' '  expressed  its  support  of  the  central  committee 
of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union  in  the  straggle  against  the 
opposition  led  by  Comrades  Trotsky  and  Zinoviev."  As  the  struggle 
intensified  James  P.  Cannon  and  Martin  Abern,  both  members  of  the 
American  party's  central  executive  committee,  were  expelled  as  "Trot- 
skyites"  on  October  27,  1928,  together  with  their  followers. 

Later  the  Russian  party  was  torn  by  a  struggle  against  the  ' '  Right ' ' 
Bukharinites,  with  the  result  that  Jay  Lovestone,  Executive  Secretary 
of  the  Workers  (Communist)  Party  was  expelled  on  July  8, 1929,  because 
of  his  suspected  sympathies  with  Bukharin.  In  his  speech  delivered 
before  the  American  Commission  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Communist  International  on  May  6,  1929,  Stalin  described  in  some  detail 
the  race  between  the  American  Communist  factions  for  Moscow's  favor, 
as  follows : 

I  take  such  a  simple  fact  as  the  speculation  on  the  divergencies  in  the  C.  P.  S.  U. 
practiced  by  both  the  Majority  as  well  as  the  Minority  leaders.  You  know  that  the 
one  as  well  as  the  other  section  of  the  Communist  Party  of  America  is  vieing  with 
each  other,  overtaking  each  other  as  if  at  the  races,  strenuously  try  to  speculate  on 
the  existing  and  nonexisting  differences  in  the  C.  P.  S.  U. 

At  Comintern  congresses,  representatives  of  the  Russian  Communist 
Party  presented  the  main  reports,  resolutions,  and  manifestos. 

The  manifesto  of  the  First  Congress  held  in  1919  was  drafted  by 
Lenin,  Trotsky,  Zinoviev,  Rakovsky,  and  Platten,  a  Swiss  refugee,  in 
Moscow. 

At  the  Second  Congress  in  1920  the  chief  reporters  were  Zinoviev, 
Lenin,  Bukharin,  and  Radek. 

The  Third  Congress  in  1921  heard  reports  from  Zinoviev,  Lenin, 
Radek,  and  Hintchouk. 

The  chief  speakers  at  the  Fourth  Congress  in  1922  were  Zinoviev, 
Radek,  Trotsky,  and  Lenin. 

The  following  members  of  the  Russian  Communist  Party  presented 
the  main  reports  at  the  Fifth  Congress  in  1924 :  Zinoviev,  Kalinin,  Varga, 
(Hungarian),  Bukharin,  Rykov,  and  Manuilsky. 

Reporters  at  the  Sixth  Congress  in  1928  were  Bukharin,  Kuusinen, 
Varga,  Stutschka,  and  Manuilsky. 

The  Seventh  Congress  in  1935  heard  the  reports  of  Pieck  (German), 
Dimitrov,  Ercoli  (Italian) ,  and  Manuilsky,  all  acting  under  the  discipline 
of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union. 

INSTRUCTIONS  FROM  MOSCOW 

The  guiding  hand  of  the  leaders  of  the  Russian  Communist  Party 
is  to  be  seen  not  only  in  Comintern  matters  in  general  but  also  in  ques- 
tions dealing  specifically  with  the  activities  of  the  American  Communist 
Party. 

The  following  instances  are  cited  by  way  of  example  : 
1.  Communication  dated  January  12,   1920,  signed  by  Zinoviev, 
calling  for  an  "immediate  joint  convention"  to  unite  the  Communist 
Party  of  America  and  the  Communist  Labor  Party. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IX  CALIFORNIA  163 

2.  Referring  to  the  United  States,  Zinoviev  declared  at  the  Third 
Congress  of  the  Communist  International — 

the  task  of  the  Communists  consists  in  agitating  among  the  masses  to  develop  the 
maximum  of  organizational  work,  to  ruthelessly  unmask  the  opportunists  and  centrists, 
to  wrest  the  masses  away  from  them,  to  destroy  illusions,  which  were  hrought  by 
social  traitors.    (Report  of  Meetings  held  in  Moscow,  June  22-July  12,  1921,  p.  45.) 

3.  At  the  Fourth  Congress  of  the  Communist  International,  Zino- 
viev reported  that  the  affairs  of  the  American  Party  were  discussed 
five  times  in  the  Executive  Committee  and  nine  times  in  its  Presidium. 
He  added : 

"We  were  able  to  send  a  delegate  to  America,  who  remained  for  some  time.  The 
greatest  difficulty  with  which  the  American  movement  has  been  confronted  was  the 
problem  of  combining  together  legal  and  illegal  work.  (Abridged  Report  of  Meetings 
held  at  Petrograd  and  Moscow.  November  7-December  3,  1922,  pp.  9,  11,  25.) 

4.  In  his  report  to  the  Fifth  Congress,  Zinoviev  made  the  following 
reference  to  the  affairs  of  the  American  Party : 

We  must  also  combat  some  digressions  to  the  right  in  the  American  movement ; 
these  disgressions  made  their  appearance  in  connection  with  the  Third  Party,  the 
La  Follette  Party.  I  Abridged  Report  of  Meetings  held  at  Moscow,  June  17th  to 
July  Sth,  1924,  p.  16.) 

5.  The  Theses  of  Zinoviev  presented  to  a  plenary  session  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  International  in  1925  con- 
tained a  section  dealing  with  the  Workers  Party  of  America  and  pointed 
out  that  it  was  necessary — 

to  fuse  the  national  sections  of  the  party  into  a  real  united  party.  (The  Party 
Organization  published  by  the  Workers  (Communist)  Party  of  America,  Chapter  II.) 

6.  Speaking  at  the  Sixth  Congress  of  the  Comintern  on  July  19, 
1928,  Bukharin  outlined  the  duties  of  the  American  Communist  Party, 
as  follows : 

Events  like  the  United  States  incursion  in  Nicaragua  have  not  been  sufficiently 
counteracted,  particularly  by  the  American  Party. 

7.  Joseph  Stalin  presented  a  statement  before  the  Presidium  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  International  on  May  14,  1929, 
vhich  presented  in  detail  the  tasks  of  the  American  party,  including 
"The  International  Red  Day  Campaign,"  ''The  Trade  Union  Unity 
Convention  to  be  held  in  Cleveland  on  August  31st,"  "The  Gastonia 
Campaign,"  "Work  Among  the  Miners,"  "The  Developing  Activities 
of  the  All- America  Anti-Imperialist  League,"  and  the  "liquidation 
of  all  factions  *  *  *  in  the  Communist  Party  of  America."  His  pro- 
posals on  May  6, 1929  before  the  American  Commission  of  the  Communist 
International  called  for  "An  Open  Letter  *  *  *  in  the  name  of  the 
ECCI  (Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  International)  to  the 
members  of  the  Communist  Party  of  America, ' '  demanding  that  ' '  The 
Secretariat  of  the  CEC  (Central  Executive  Committee)  of  the  Ameri- 
can Party  be  altered,  and  the  "recall"  of  Jay  Lovestone,  then  secretary 
of  the  American  party.  (Original  documents  presented  by  Jay  Love- 
stone  before  the  Special  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities,  Volume 
XI,  pages  7112  to  7124.) 


164  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

George  Dimitrov  was  similarly  explicit  in  his  instructions  to  the 
American  party  at  the  Seventh  Congress  in  1935,  when  he  called  for 
the  creation  of  a — 

mass  People's  Front  in  America  *  *  *  in  opposition  to  the  parties  of  the  trusts  and 
the  banks,  and  likewise  to  growing  fascisms.  *  *  *  Our  comrades  in  the  United  States 
acted  rightly  in  taking  the  initiative  for  the.  creation  of  such  a  party.  (Abridged 
Stenographic  Report  of  the  VII  Congress  of  the  Communist  International,  p.  151.) 

PARALLEL  POLICIES 

From  about  1935  leaders  of  the  Russian  Communist  Party  have 
refrained  from  issuing  open  instructions  to  the  American  Communist 
Party.  A  number  of  simultaneous  historical  factors  offer  an  explanation 
of  this  new  procedure. 

First  is  the  growing  threat  of  Fascist  Germany  and  Stalin's  desire 
to  placate  public  opinion  in  the  democracies. 

Second  is  the  probable  use  of  instructions  by  short  wave  and  cable. 

Third  is  the  fact  that  pronouncements  by  leading  spokesmen  of  the 
international  Communist  movement  in  such  internationally  circulated 
Communist  publications  as  International  Press  Correspondence,  World 
News  and  Views,  Communist  International,  War  and  the  Working  Class, 
New  Times,  as  well  as  the  official  Soviet  press,  served  in  the  nature  of 
instructions  to  a  thoroughly  disciplined  world  party. 

Indisputable  evidence  of  Russian  direction  of  the  international 
Communist  movement,  including  that  of  the  United  States,  lies  in  the 
unswerving  parallellism  of  policy  between  the  Communist  Party  of  the 
Soviet  Union  and  the  partv  in  the  United  States,  both  before  and  after 
1935. 

1.  Against  the  League  of  Nations. — (a)  In  December  1927,  at  the 
Fifteenth  Congress  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  Stalin 
spoke  against  the  League  of  Nations  and  charged  that  all  the  talk  about 
it  "only  resulted  in  fooling  the  masses,  in  new  outbursts  of  armament, 
and  in  fresh  exacerbation  of  impending  conflicts."  Russia  was  not  in 
the  League. 

(b)  William  Z.  Foster,  present  leader  of  the  Communist  Party, 
USA,  voiced  a  similar  opinion  in  his  book,  Toward  Soviet  America  (1932) 
when  he  declared : 

The  League  of  Nations  is  not  a  peace-striving  institution  *  *  *  it  is  a  grouping  of 
imperialist  bandits  intent  only  upon  their  own  schemes  of  mass  exploitation  and  war 
making   (p.  42) . 

2.  For  the  League  of  Nations. — (a)  In  an  interview  with  Walter 
Duranty  published  in  the  New  York  Times  of  December  25,  1933,  Stalin 
declared  that  "it  is  not  impossible  that  we  should  support  the  League  of 
Nations  in  spite  of  its  colossal  defects."  Russia  joined  the  League  in 
September  1934. 

(b)  The  resolution  of  the  Central  Committee  of  the  Communist 
Party,  USA,  published  in  the  Daily  Worker  of  July  3, 1937,  stated  that— 
it  is  necessary  to  explain  that  the  present  League  is  not  quite  the  same  as  it  was 
some  years  ago,  that  the  present  League  can  aud  must  be  used  for  the  cause  of  peace 
and  democracy. 

The  November  1934  issue  of  The  Communist  official  monthly  organ  of 
the  CPUSA  said : 

The  outstanding  event  in  the  present  international  situation  is  the  entry  of  the 
U.  S.  S.  R.  into  the  League  of  Nations  (p.  1059). 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  165 

3.  For  collective  security — (a)  Maxim  Litvinov,  representing  the 
Soviet  Union  before  the  Council  of  the  League  of  Nations  meeting 
in  London  on  March  17,  1936,  urged  "the  collective  organization  of 
security"  against  the  Fascist  aggressor  nations. 

(o)  The  Central  Committee  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  in  its 
resolution  published  in  the  Daily  Worker,  of  July  3,  1937,  called  for — 
the  creation  of  a  united  front  of  democratic  states  against  the  Fascist  aggressors. 

4.  For  the  Soviet-German  pact,  against  imperialist  war — (a)  The 
Soviet-German  Non-Aggression  Pact  was  signed  by  Joseph  Stalin  on 
August  23,  1939.  V.  M.  Molotov,  Soviet  People's  Commissar  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  terms  World  War  II — 

the  new  foreign  adventures  of  the  imperialist  powers. 

{Daily  Worker,  November  7,  1939.) 

(b)  On  August  26,  1939,  Earl  Browder,  General  Secretary  of  the 
Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  broadcasting  over  the  NBC  network,  declared 
that ' '  The  Soviet-German  agreement  is  thus  the  best  current  example  of 
the  way  to  peace. ' '  Browder  called  the  war  ' '  a  family  quarrel  of  rival 
imperialisms."  (Daily  Worker,  November  6,  1939.) 

5.  Support  of  the  war  against  the  Fascist  powers — (a)  Germany 
attacked  the  Soviet  Union  on  June  21,  1941.  On  July  3  Joseph  Stalin 
broadcast  an  appeal  in  which  he  said : 

In  this  war  of  liberation  we  shall  not  be  alone.  In  this  great  war  we  shall  have 
true  allies  in  the  peoples  of  Europe  and  America. 

(b)  The  official  statement  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  issued 
on  June  22, 1941,  demanded  that  the  American  people : 

Support  the  U.  S.  S.  R.  in  its  fight  against  Nazi  war. 
(Communist,  July  1941,  p.  579.) 

6.  In  defense  of  American  capitalism — (a)  On  November  6,  1941, 
following  Hitler 's  attack  on  the  Soviet  Union,  Joseph  Stalin  declared : 

But  in  England  and  the  U.  S.  A.  there  are  elementary  democratic  liberties,  there 
are  trade-unions  *  *  *,  there  are  Labour  Parties,  there  is  a  Parliament,  whereas  the 
Hitler  regime  abolished  all  these  institutions  in  Germany  *  *  *.  It  is  enough  to 
compare  these  two  series  of  facts  to  understand  *  *  *  the  full  falseness  of  the  Ger- 
man-Fascist chatter  about  an  Anglo-American  plutocratic  regime. 

(b)  In  a  speech  delivered  at  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  Earl  Browder  went 
even  further  in  his  support  of  capitalism  when  he  said : 

We  must  be  prepared  to  give  the  hand  of  cooperation  and  fellowship  to  everyone  who 
tights  for  the  realization  of  this  coalition.  If  J.  P.  Morgan  supports  this  coalition  and 
goes  down  the  line  for  it,  I  as  a  Communist  am  prepared  to  clasp  his  hand  on  that  and 
join  with  him  to  realize  it.  (Communist,  January  1944.  p.  8.) 

7.  Attack  on  American  capitalism — (a)  With  the  end  of  the  war 
the  Soviet  press  has  shown  evidence  of  hostility  toward  American  capi- 
talism, of  which  the  following  are  typical : 

The  impending  danger  of  mass  unemployment  is  indicative  of  the  profound  con- 
tradictions that  are  inherent  in  America's  economics. 

( M.  Rubinstein,  New  Times,  July  1, 1945,  p.  19.) 

A  choice  has  to  be  made:  Either  with  the  trusts  and  large  banks,  which  are  in 
t he  hands  of  traitors,  or  with  the  people.  (Andre  Marty,  Secretary  of  the  Central 
Committee  of  the  Communist  Party  of  France,  Trud,  July  3,  194.r>.) 


166  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

(b)  The  Draft  Resolution  of  the  National  Board  of  the  Communist 
Political  Association  presented  to  its  convention  on  July  26-28,  1945,  was 
similarly  hostile  to  American  capital : 

American  capital  supported  the  war  against  Nazi  Germany,  not  because  of 
hatred  of  Fascism  or  a  desire  to  liberate  suffering  Europe  from  the  heel  of  Nazi 
despotism,  but  because  it  recognized  in  Hitler  Germany  a  dangerous  imperialist  rival 

*  *  *.  They  are  trying  to  organize  a  new  cordon  sanitaire  against  the  Soviet  Union 

*  *  *.  On  the  home  front  the  big  trusts  and  monopolies  are  blocking  the  development 
of  a  satisfactory  program  to  meet  the  human  needs  of  reconversion  with  its  accompany- 
ing economic  dislocations  and  severe  unemployment.  (Political  Affairs,  July  1945, 
pp.  579,  580,  581.) 

8.  Causes  of  Soviet  victory — (a)  The  Moscow  Bolshevik  of  July 
4,  1945,  stated  that  an  important  immediate  task  of  propagandists  and 
agitators  is  to  explain  fully  and  clearly  the  causes  of  the  Soviet  Union 's 
victory.  Propagandists  and  agitators  must  show  the  causes  of  victory 
are  the  strength  of  the  Socialist  system,  the  might  of  the  Red  Army,  and 
the  leadership  in  military  and  state  affairs  of  Generalissimo  Stalin. 

(b)  Robert  Thompson,  member  of  the  secretariat  of  the  Communist 
Party  of  the  United  States,  has  written  an  article  entitled  "The  Red 
Army's  Contributions  to  Victory"  in  Political  Affairs,  of  June  1945,  in 
which  he  says  in  part : 

The  Soviet  High  Command,  guided  by  the  military  and  political  genius  of 
Marshal  Stalin,  opposed  the  strategy  and  tactics  of  Hitler's  total  war  and  blitzkreig 
with  the  strategy  and  tactics  of  a  people's  war  backed  by  the  unique  economic,  military, 
moral,  and  political  resources  of  the  Socialist  country  (p.  4S8). 

9.  The  following  articles  are  reprinted  in  Political  Affairs,  official 
American  Communist  monthly  organ,  from  The  War  and  the  Working 
Class,  which  is  now  known  as  New  Times,  a  semimonthly  magazine  pub- 
lished in  Moscow.  Its  purpose  is  obviously  to  guide  the  policy  of  Com- 
munist Parties  throughout  the  world.  The  reprinting  of  these  articles 
denotes  not  only  their  acceptance  by  the  American  Communist  Party. 
but  also  that  they  are  to  serve  as  official  directives  for  the  guidance  of 
party  members. 

Date     of     publico- 

Title  Author  £?"*  .  W«L   and     P^?al 

\\  orkmg    Classes      Affairs 

or  New  Times 
France  and  the  San  Francisco 

Conference   N.  Nilolayev No.  6,  Feb.  15,  1945    May  1945 

Democracy    A.    Sokolov Xo.  8,  Apr.  15,  1945   June  1945 

International    Cartels   and   their 

Agents V.    Linetsky Xo.  7.  Apr.  1,  1945   Aug.  1945 

Poland  After  Liberation K.  Rudnitsky Xo.  8,  Apr.  15,  1945    Aug.  1945 

Trade  Unions  and  the  State K.    Omelchenko No.  8,  Apr.  15,  1945   Aug.  1945 

Alex  Bittelman,  a  member  of  the  present  National  Board  of  the 
Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the  movement  in 
this  country,  has  epitomized  the  role  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the 
Soviet  Union  in  his  authoritative  pamphlet  entitled  Milestones  in  the 

History  of  the  Communist  Party  : 

The  Communist  International  and  its  model  party — the  Communist  Party  of 
the  Soviet  Union — headed  by  Comrade  Stalin,  gave  us  the  guidance  that  helped  the 
American  Communists  to  find  the  way  to  the  masses  and  to  the  position  of  vanguard. 
(p.  8)  *  *  *  The  leading  role  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union  in  the 
Comintern  needs  neither  explanation  nor  apology.  A  Party  that  has  opened  up  the 
epoch  of  the  world  revolution,  and  that  is  successfully  building  a  classless  society  on 
one-sixth  of  the  earth,  is  cheerfully  recognized  and  followed  as  the  leading  Party  of 
the  World  Communist  movement   (p.  71). 


UK-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  167 

V.  How  the  World  Communist  Party  Is  Controlled 

We  have  already  shown  how  the  leadership  of  the  International 
Communist  movement  was  concentrated  from  the  outset  in  the  hands  of 
a  small  group  at  the  head  of  the  Russian  Communist  Party.  In  the  early 
stages  of  the  Communist  International,  however,  when  the  movement 
was  comparatively  weak,  there  was  some  pretense  of  democratic  methods. 

As  the  Soviet  Union  and  the  Communist  Parties  grew  in  strength, 
these  pseudo-democratic  forms  were  discarded  and  the  dictatorship  of 
the  Russian  Communist  leaders  over  the  international  Communist  move- 
ment became  even  more  complete  and  absolute. 

The  first  six  Congresses  of  the  Comintern  were  held  at  comparatively 
frequent  intervals  in  1919,  1920,  1921,  1922,  1924,  and  1928.  Delegates 
from  affiliated  parties  attended  these  Congresses  and  participated  in  the 
discussions  of  proposals  presented  by  the  controlling  Russian  Communist 
group. 

The  Seventh  Congress  was  held  in  1935,  after  a  lapse  of  seven  years. 
From  1935  to  1943.  when  the  dissolution  of  the  Comintern  was  announced 
by  Joseph  Stalin,  no  Congress  was  held. 

At  the  present  time  it  would  seem  that  Communist  parties  have  no 
right  to  participate  in  the  formulation  of  decisions  effecting  their  move- 
ment, which  emanate  from  Moscow.  Thus  the  dissolution  of  the  Comin- 
tern serves  a  dual  purpose. 

(1)  It  removes  the  basis  for  the  charge  of  Moscow  interference  in 
the  internal  affairs  of  nations  and  lends  color  to  the  claim  that 
the  various  Communist  movements  are  spontaneous  and  indige- 
nous. 

(2)  It  gives  the  Russian  Communist  leaders  a  justification  for  the 
abolition  of  international  congresses  or  other  media  of  inter- 
national participation  in  the  formulation  of  world  Communist 
policy,  and  thus  makes  for  increased  concentration  of  control  in 
their  hands. 

Having  had  no  previous  experience  with  a  centralized  world  purl}! 
of  this  new  type,  Americans  find  it  difficult  to  grasp  its  essential  char- 
acter. We  are  prone  to  judge  the  Communist  Party  in  terms  of  other 
American  political  parties  which  are  bound  by  no  international  ties  but 
are  inherently  devoted  to  this  country,  which  are  loose  in  their  discipline 
and  tolerate  wide  differences  of  opinion,  parties  which  serve  as  vehicles 
for  the  aspirations  and  demands  of  multifarious  American  groups  and 
are  wholly  indigenous. 

While  publicly  encouraging  the  illusion  that  their  party  answ<  rs  this 
description,  tht  Communists  arc  fully  aware  of  the  falsity  of  this  belief. 

Speaking  at  the  Thirteenth  Plenum  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Comintern  in  December  1933,  Ossip  Piatnitsky,  veteran  leader  of  the 
Russian  Communist  Party  and  head  of  the  Organization  Department  of 
the  Communist  International,  declared  that — 

The  Communist  International  is  united  by  the  Executive  Committee  of  tin* 
Comintern  into  a  single,  world,  centralized  party. 


168  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

This  conception  was  fully  accepted  by  American  Communists.  Earl 
Browder  has  referred  to  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  as — 
a  party  of  an  entirely  new  type,  never  before  seen  in  America,  a  party  of  the  type  first 
created  by  Lenin  in  the  Russian  Bolshevik  Party,  and  now  being  brought  into  existence 
in  every  capitalist  country,  under  the  leadership  of  the  World  Party  of  Communism, 
the  Communist  International.  (Modern  Thinker,  March  1934.) 

The  subordination  of  the  various  national  Communist  parties  to  the 
central  control  of  Moscow  was  justified  in  the  program  of  the  Com- 
munist International  on  the  ground  that  such  parties  must  subordinate 
"the  temporary,  partial,  group  and  national  interests  of  the  proletariat 
to  its  lasting,  general,  international  interests."  In  the  final  analysis,  the 
interpretation  of  what  constitutes  the  ''lasting,  general,  international 
interests"  of  the  proletariat  was  left  to  the  Russian-dominated  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Communist  International  in  Moscow. 

From  1919  to  approximately  1935,  the  Communist  International  has 
repeatedly  published  detailed  statutes  governing  its  affiliated  parties. 

The  discontinuance  of  the  publication  of  these  statutes  coincides 
with  the  adoption  by  the  1935  Congress  of  the  Comintern  of  its  "Trojan 
Horse ' '  policy  when  the  Soviet  Union  began  to  seek  the  support  of  the 
democracies  against  the  rising  threat  of  Nazi  aggression,  when  the  Com- 
munists began  to  minimize  and  deny  their  revolutionary  aims,  and  when 
they  proclaimed  their  devotion  to  democracy. 

It  is  a  reflection  of  the  fact  that  Russian  leadership  of  the  Comintern 
had  reached  a  pinnacle  of  unchallenged  authority  over  a  period  of  sixteen 
years,  an  authority  based  not  upon  publicized  statute  books  but  upon 
the  compulsory  power  of  its  farflung  apparatus.  These  statutes  have 
received  their  binding  force  through  long  Communist  usage  and  unre- 
served acceptance.  They  have  neither  lapsed  nor  have  they  been  publicly 
rescinded.  The  practices  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  at 
the  present  time  are  fully  in  line  ivith  these  statutes  and  give  ample 
evidence  of  their  continued  potency. 

To  preserve  an  appearance  of  democracy  the  Constitution  of  the 
Comintern  sought  to  create  the  impression  that  its  World  Congress  is 
its  supreme  authority.  Since  such  congresses  have  been  held  every  few 
years  or  not  at  all,  it  has  been  manifestly  impossible  for  them  to  handle 
the  everyday  affairs  of  the  International.  Hence  its  Constitution  pro- 
vided that  "The  leading  body  of  the  Communist  International  in  the 
period  between  congresses  is  the  executive  committee,  which  gives  instruc- 
tion to  all  the  sections  of  the  Communist  International  and  controls  their 
activity"  (par.  12).  This  body  usually  included  representatives  of  the 
leading  Communist  parties.  That  body  is,  however,  required  to  meet  "not 
less  than  once  every  six  months"  (par.  23).  The  executive  committee 
therefore  "elects  a  presidium  responsible  to  the  E.  C.  C.  I.,  which  acts  as 
the  permanent  body  carrying  out  all  the  business  of  the  E.  C.  C.  I.  in 
the  interval  between  the  meetings  of  the  latter"  (par.  19). 

To  carry  the  centralization  still  further  the  presidium  elects  a  poli- 
tical secretariat  "which  is  empowered  to  make  decisions."  Joseph  Zack, 
formerly  a  member  of  the  Central  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist 
Party,  USA,  stationed  in  Moscow  from  1927  to  1930,  has  described  the 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  169 

actual  functioning  of  the  International,  before  the  Special  Committee 
on  Un-American  Activities  on  September  30,  1939,  as  follows : 

The  ones  that  control  the  actual  organizational  machinery  of  the  Communist 
International  are  the  so-called  small  commission,  a  body  of  three  individuals,  and 
those  three  individuals  (Piatnitzky,  Manuilsky,  Kuusinen)  are  all  Russians  and 
members  of  the  Russian  Communist  Party  *  *  *  Stalin  has  a  battery  of  private 
secretaries  whose  function  is  to  watch  the  foreign  situation — China,  the  Americas, 
Germany,  France,  England — and  who  report  to  him  personally  *  *  *  and  through 
them  and  through  *  *  *  these  three  members  of  the  commission,  he  commands  and 
controls  absolutely  everything  *   *   *. 

This  small  commission  is  in  a  position  to  issue  orders  to  at  least  sixty- 
five  Communist  parties  throughout  the  world,  orders  which  "must  be 
promptly  carried  out. ' ' 

The  seat  of  the  Comintern  has  always  been  in  Moscow,  which  has 
given  the  Russian  Communist  Party  physical  control  of  its  apparatus. 
Mr.  Zack  has  testified  that  this  apparatus  consisted  of  "about  four  or 
five  hundred  employees,  and  all  these  employees  are  paid  out  of  the 
Russian  treasury. ' ' 

STATUTES 

On  July  23-August  7, 1920  at  the  Second  Congress  of  the  Communist 
International,  the  following  statute  was  adopted  with  the  approval  of 
the  American  Communist  delegates  who  were  present : 

All  the  parties  and  organizations  comprising  the  Communist  International  bear 
the  name  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  given  country  (section  of  the  Communist 
International). 

Since  that  time  the  American  section  has  been  known  as  either  the 
Communist  Party  of  America,  the  Workers  (Communist)  Party  of 
America,  or  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States,  section  of  the 
Communist  International,  until  the  party's  alleged  dissaffiliation  from 
the  Communist  International  on  November  16,  1940. 

It  will  also  be  remembered  that  after  assuming  the  name  of  the 
Communist  Political  Association  on  May  20-23, 1944  for  strategic  reasons, 
the  party  resumed  the  name  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States 
on  July  26-28, 1945  as  prescribed  by  the  original  statutes.  The  compulsory 
adoption  of  this  name  emphasizes  the  subordination  of  all  Communist 
parties  to  their  recognized  Communist  center  in  Moscow.  This  is  accen- 
tuated by  the  fact  that  but  one  Communist  Party  is  officially  recognized 
in  any  given  country,  a  situation  which  still  prevails  after  the  dissolution 
of  the  Comintern. 

The  Communist  International  has  formulated  model  statutes  (Mus- 
terstatut)  for  all  Communist  Parties  which  have  been  imposed  upon  these 
parties  oftentimes  despite  considerable  internal  resistance.  In  the  Report 
of  the  Organization  Department  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Com- 
munist International  between  the  Fifth  and  Six  World  Congresses,  prog- 
ress along  this  line  is  noted  as  follows : 

Beginning  in  the  second  half  of  1925,  immediately  after  the  First  Internationa] 
Organizing  Conference,  the  revision  of  the  statutes  of  the  Communist  rallies  in  accord- 
ance with  the  requirements  of  the  model  statutes  was  taken  in  hand  under  the  guidance 
of  the  Organizing  Department. 

In  1935  the  Workers  Library  Publishers  published  a  "Manual  on 
Organization"  for  Communist  Party  members,  by  J.  Peters,  which  is 


170  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

prefaced  by  the  following  introductory  note  by  Jack  Stachel,  now  a  mem- 
ber of  the  National  Board  of  the  party : 

Much  of  the  material  was  of  late  available,  as  for  example,  the  famous  and 
thoroughgoing  resolutions  and  decisions  on  the  question  of  organization  adopted  by  the 
Second  Organizational  Conference  of  the  Communist  International. 

Iii  1925  a  directive  from  the  Communist  International  brought  about 
the  reorganization  of  the  Workers  Party  of  America  on  a  shop  nuclei 
basis.  This  form  of  organization,  which  the  Comintern  Constitution  has 
called  "the  basic  unit  of  the  Communist  Party  organization"  (par.  4) 
which  had  been  abandoned  for  some  time  in  the  United  States,  has  been 
revived  at  the  convention  in  July,  1945. 

The  statutes  also  provide  for  strict  supervision  of  the  American 
party 's  program.  Point  fifteen  of  the  ' '  Conditions  of  Admission  to  the 
Communist  International' '  provide  that — 

the  program  of  each  party  belonging  to  the  Communist  International  should  be  con- 
firmed by  the  next  congress  of  the  Communist  International  or  its  Executive  Com- 
mittee. 

The  Constitution  of  the  Communist  International  has  even  pre- 
scribed the  exact  form  of  membership  requirement  for  its  affiliated  parties, 
namely : 

Membership  in  the  Communist  Party  and  in  the  Communist  International  is 
open  to  all  those  who  accept  the  program  and  rules  of  the  respective  Communist  Party 
and  of  the  Communist  Internationa],  who  join  one  of  the  basic  units  of  the  Party, 
actively  work  in  it,  abide  by  all  the  decisions  of  the  Party  and  of  the  Communist  Inter- 
national, and  regularly  pay  Party  dues. 

Article  3,  Section  1  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Workers  (Communist) 
Party,  dealing  with  membership,  which  is  typical,  repeats  this  formula 
almost  word  for  word. 

Every  person  who  accepts  the  program  and  statutes  of  the  Communist  Inter- 
national and  of  the  Workers  (Communist)  Party,  who  becomes  a  member  of  a  basic 
suborganization  of  the  Party,  who  is  active  in  this  organization,  who  subordinates 
himself  to  all  the  decisions  of  the  Comintern  and  of  the  Party,  and  regularly  pays  his 
membership  dues  may  be  a  member  of  the  Party. 

It  should  be  noted  here  that  each  individual  member  must  subordi- 
nate himself  to  the  decisions  of  the  Communist  International,  whose  Con- 
stitution provides  that  such  decisions  ' '  must  be  unreservedly  carried  out 
even  if  a  part  of  the  Party  membership  or  of  the  local  Party  organiza- 
tions are  in  disagreement  with  it"  (par.  5).  The  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Comintern  is  in  fact  empowered  "to  annul  or  amend  decisions  of 
Party  Congresses  and  of  Central  Committees  of  Parties  and  also  to  make 
decisions  which  are  obligatory  for  them"  (pars.  13  and  14). 

A  Message  From  Duclos  ! 

Recent  developments  in  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States 
in  1945,  two  years  after  the  announced  dissolution  of  the  Comintern, 
offer  a  striking  illustration  of  the  enforcement  of  these  provisions. 

Jacques  Duclos,  secretary  of  the  Communist  Party  of  France,  and 
a  member  of  Executive  Committee  of  the  ' '  defunct ' '  Communist  Inter- 
national, wrote  a  letter  which  appeared  in  Les  Cahiers  du  Communisme, 
April,  1945,  official  theoretical  organ  of  the  Communist  Party  of  France, 
in  which  he  attacked  Earl  Browder,  then  President  of  the  Communist 


UN-AMERICAN   ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  171 

Political  Association  for  ''revision  of  Marxism,"  for  promulgating  "the 
concept  of  a  long-term  class  peace, ' '  and  for  the  dissolution  of  the  Com- 
munist Party  of  the  United  States,  which  had  been  approved  at  a  con- 
vention held  in  New  York  City  on  May  20-23,  1944. 

It  should  be  noted  at  this  point  that  the  Comintern  Constitution  pro- 
vides that  all  relations  between  its  various  national  sections  are  subject  to 
the  control  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  International. 
(Par.  31,  32) .  They  cannot  deal  with  each  others  as  free,  autonomous  par- 
ties. 

It  is  significant  also  that  the  Communist  Party  of  France  officially 
endorsed  Browder's  policy  in  its  official  organ-in-exile,  France  Nouvette 
of  Ma}',  1044,  indicating  that  this  position  had  received  official  interna- 
tional approval  at  the  time.  It  is  therefore  difficult  to  avoid  the  conclusion 
that  Duclos  was  selected  as  a  convenient  mouthpiece  of  the  submerged 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  International  exercising  its  right 
"to  annul  or  amend  decisions  of  Party  Congresses." 

In  accordance  with  the  rule  laid  down  in  number  18  of  the  original 
"Twenty-one  Points"  or  conditions  of  admission  to  the  Communist 
International,  it  is  provided  that  "All  the  leading  organs  of  the  press 
of  every  party  are  bound  to  publish  all  the  most  important  documents 
of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  International. ' ' 

True  to  this  practice,  by  means  of  which  the  Comintern  can  go  over 
the  heads  of  national  party  leaders,  the  Worker  of  May  27,  1945,  Section 
3,  pages  1  and  3,  carried  a  full  translation  of  the  Duclos  letter  severely 
criticizing  the  Communist  Political  Association  and  its  President.  In 
accepting  these  strictures,  Browder  expressed  his  "welcome"  of  the 
"initiative  of  Jacques  Duclos  in  utilizing  this  channel  of  international 
discussion. ' '  A  resolution  approving  Duclos '  position  was  adopted  by  the 
Emergency  National  Convention  held  on  July  26  to  28,  1945,  with 
Browder's  single  opposition  vote.  He  later  pledged  his  full  support  of 
the  resolution. 

The  extent  of  Moscow  control  of  the  American  Communist  Party 
is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  conventions  "can  be  convened  only  with 
the  consent  of  the  E.  C.  C.  I."  (Constitution  of  the  Communist  Inter- 
national, paragraph  34.) 

Illustrating  this  procedure  the  Daily  Worker  of  October  15,  1924, 
announced  among  the  "Decisions  of  Workers'  Party  Central  Executive 
Committee"  that  "The  C.  E.  C.  authorized  a  request  to  the  Commu- 
nist International  for  permission  to  hold  an  annual  convention  of  the 
Workers'  Party  some  time  during  the  month  of  January." 

It  should  be  noted  at  this  point  that  it  required  a  letter  from  Jacques 
Duclos,  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Comintern,  to  pro- 
voke an  emergency  convention  of  the  American  party  on  July  26-28, 
1945. 

The  Constitution  of  the  Comintern  has  provided  a  number  of  safe- 
guards to  insure  its  complete  control  over  affiliated  parties.  The  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  the  Communist  International  is  empowered  to  send 
its  own  representatives  to  member  parties  who  speak  in  its  name. 

Such  representatives  receive  their  instructions  from  the  E.  C.  C.  I.  or  from 
its  Presidium,  and  are  responsible  to  them  fur  their  activities.  Representatives  of 
the  E.  C.  C.  I.  have  the  right  to  participate  in  meetings  of  the  central  Party  bodies 
as  well  as  the  local   organizations  of  the   Sections   to   which   they   are  sent  *   *   *. 


172  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

They  may  *  *  *  speak  iu  opposition  to  the  Central  Committee  of  the  given  Section, 
at  Congresses  and  Conferences  of  that  Section,  if  the  line  of  the  Central  Committee 
in  question  diverges  from  the  instructions  of  the  E.  C.  C.  I.  Representatives  of  the 
E.  C.  C.  I.  are  especially  obliged  to  supervise  the  carrying  out  of  the  decisions  of 
the  World  Congresses  and  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  International 
(par.  22). 

COMMUNIST   INTERNATIONAL   REPRESENTATIVES 

The  application  of  this  decision  is  demonstrated  by  a  significant  list 
of  Comintern  representatives  who  have  operated  in  this  country  under 
false  passports  and  various  aliases.  Although  these  representatives 
varied  in  nationality,  it  must  be  remembered  that  they  all  represented 
the  Communist  world  party  centered  in  Moscow. 

G.  VALETSKI  (Valetsky),  a  Pole,  who  attended  the  secret  convention  at 
Bridgman,  Mich.,  on  August  17-21,  1922,  member  of  the  Russian  Communist  Party. 

JOSEF  POGANY,  alias  John  Schwartz,  alias  John  Pepper,  alias  John  Swift, 
former  Commander  in  the  Hungarian  Red  Army  in  1919,  exile  to  the  Soviet  Union, 
attended  the  secret  convention  at  Bridgman,  Mich.,  on  August  17-21,  1922,  elected 
a  member  of  the  Central  Executive  Committee  of  the  Workers  Party  of  America  at 
its  convention  on  December  23,  1923,  to  January  1,  1924,  disciplined  and  recalled  by 
the  Comintern  in  July  1929. 

BORIS  REIN  STEIN,  a  former  member  of  the  American  Socialist  Labor 
Party,  by  whom  he  was  repudiated,  present  at  the  First  Congress  of  the  Communist 
International  and  the  secret  convention  of  the  Communist  Party  of  America  at 
Bridgman,  Mich.,  on  August  17-21,  1922. 

S.  GUSSEV,  alias  P.  Green,  also  known  as  Drabkin,  chairman  of  the  Parity 
Commission  of  the  Workers  Party  Convention  on  August  21-30,  1925 ;  General  in 
the  Red  Army ;  member  of  the  Control  Commission  of  the  Russian  Communist 
Party. 

Y.  SIROLA,  alias  Miller,  representative  to  the  United  States  in  1926-1927; 
former  chairman  of  the  Finnish  Communist  Party  and  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Communist  International. 

ARTHUR  EWERT,  alias  Braun,  alias  Brown,  alias  Berger,  Comintern  repre- 
sentative to  the  United  States  in  1927,  sent  to  Brazil  and  arrested  in  December  1935 ; 
former  member  of  the  Central  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  Party  of 
Germany. 

HARRY  POLLITT,  Comintern  representative  to  the  convention  of  the  Com- 
munist Party,  U.  S.  A.,  held  March  1-10,  1929;  secretary  of  the  Communist  Party 
of  Great  Britain. 

PHILIPP  DENGEL,  Comintern  representative  to  the  convention  of  the  Com- 
munist Party,  U.  S.  A.,  held  March  1-10,  1929  ;  member  of  the  Central  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Communist  Party  of  Germany. 

B.  MIKHAILOV,  alias  George  Williams,  Comintern  representative  to  the 
Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  in  1929,  1930 ;  member  of  the  Anglo-American  Com- 
mission of  the  Communist  International ;  prominent  member  of  the  Russian  Com- 
munist Party. 

GERHART  EISLER,  alias  Hans  Berger,  writer  of  articles  in  the  American 
Communist  press  pertaining  to  Communist  policy  in  Germany  from  1931-1932  and 
from  1940-1945 ;  former  editor  of  Under  the  Banner  of  Marxism,  official  theoretical 
organ  of  the  Communist  Party  of  Austria;  former  Comintern  representative  in  the 
Caribbean  area. 

Benjamin  Gitlow,  former  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Communist  International,  former  member  of  the  Political  Com- 
mittee of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  and  at  one  time  its  candidate 
for  Vice  President  of  the  United  States,  has  described  the  powers  of 
these  plenipotentiaries  in  his  testimony  before  the  Special  Committee 
on  Un-American  Activities,  from  which  we  quote : 

A  representative  of  the  Communist  International  to  the  United 
States  during  his  stay  in  the  United  States  was  the  boss  of  the  party 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  173 

*  *  *  He  automatically  became  a  member  of  all  the  leading  com- 
mittees of  the  party  in  the  United  States  and  participated  in  its 
deliberations  and  enjoyed  a  vote  on  matters  that  were  voted  upon 

*  *  *  all  he  had  to  do  was  to  impose  his  power  and  mandate  as  a 
C.  I.  representative,  and  then  his  view  would  prevail.  Generally, 
American  Communists  never  would  take  a  position  in  opposition  to 
the  representatives  of  the  Communist  International  (Hearings,  vol. 
7,  p.  4590). 

According  to  paragraph  22  of  the  Comintern  Constitution,  its  Execu- 
tive Committee  also  had  "the  right  to  send  instructors  to  the  various 
Sections  of  the  Communist  International,"  whose  "powers  and  duties 
*  *  *  are  determined  by  the  E.  C.  C.  I.  to  whom  the  instructors  are 
responsible."  These  instructors  supervised  special  phases  of  Communist 
activity  in  the  United  States.  We  cite  a  number  out  of  many  more  who 
have  visited  these  shores : 

CARL  E.  JOHNSON,  alias  Scott,  also  known  as  Jensen  or  Jenson,  a  former 
member  of  the  Lettish  Communist  Club  of  Boston  who  left  the  United  States  in 
1919  and  became  a  member  of  the  Russian  Communist  Party.  He  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1921-1922  to  supervise  Communist  trade  union  activity  as  the  official  repre- 
sentative of  the  Red  International  of  Labor  Unions  with  headquarters  in  Moscow. 

■  PETERSEN,   represented   the   Communist   International   in   1925-1926 

in  dealing  with  Communist  activity  among  the  Swedes  in  the  United  States,  active 
in  editing  the  Swedish  Communist  paper,  Ny  Tid. 

MARCUS,  alias  M.  Jenks,  Comintern  instructor  on  organization  mat- 
ters in  the  United  States  in  1928,  wrote  a  pamphlet  for  the  American  party  entitled, 
The  Party  Nucleus. 

F.  MARINI,  also  known  as  Maurio  Alpi,  alias  Fred  Brown,  attended  the  Tenth 
Convention  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  in  May  1938  as  secretary  of  its  Com- 
mission on  Organization,  Press,  and  Literature  and  chairman  of  its  Commission  on 
National  Groups,  writer  for  the  Communist ;  originally  from  Trieste  from  where  he 
went  to  Russia  ;  active  in  the  United  States  for  about  ten  years. 

WILLIAM  RUST,  Young  Communist  International  representative  to  the 
Young  Communist  League  of  the  United  States  in  1927  approximately  ;  member  of 
the  British  Communist  Party  and  Young  Communist  League. 

WILLI  MUENZENBERG,  visited  the  United  States  in  1934;  former  Com- 
munist deputy  to  the  Reichstag  in  1933,  international  head  of  the  Workers  Inter- 
national Relief,  a  Communist  relief  organization. 

LOUIS  GIBARTI,  also  known  as  Dobos,  in  the  United  States  intermittently 
after  1934  as  representative  of  the  Workers  International  Relief;  an  ex-officer  in 
the  Red  Army  of  Hungary  under  Bela  Kim. 

RAISSA  IRENE  BROWDER,  wife  of  Earl  Browder,  collaborator  in  writing 
his  standard  Communist  works  for  at  least  sixteen  years,  delegate  to  the  Tenth  Con- 
vention of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  May  27-31,  1938;  identified  as  an  agent 
of  the  Soviet  Intelligence  Service  before  the  Special  Committee  on  Un-American 
Activities,  Volume  XI,  page  7026). 

RAYMOND  GUYOT,  leader  of  the  Young  Communist  International  delega- 
tion at  the  World  Youth  Congress  at  Vassar  1938;  General  Secretary  of  the  Young 
Communist  International  and  member  of  the  Political  Bureau  of  the  Communist 
Party  of  France. 

REPORTS  TO  COMMUNIST  INTERNATIONAL 

According  to  the  Guiding  Rules  for  the  Construction  and  Organi- 
zation of  Communist  Parties  adopted  by  the  Third  Congress  of  the  ( !om- 
munist  International  in  1921,  "The  Party  must  hand  in  its  quarterly 
report  to  the  leading  body  of  the  Communist  International,"  as  well  as 
the  minutes  of  its  Central  Committee  (Constitution,  Par.  29).  In  addi- 
tion, "Special  reports  must  be  made  on  the  work  of  special  committees 
of  the  party"  (Guiding  Rules,  par.  17,  18). 


174  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

The  extent  and  detail  of  these  reports  is  illustrated  by  the  following- 
items  included  in  a  Report  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist 
International  between  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  World  Congresses,  published 
in  July  1928 :  general  economic  and  political  situation  in  the  United 
States,  inner  situation  in  the  Workers  (Communist)  Party,  campaign 
against  the  war  danger,  "Hands  Off  China"  campaign,  against  Ameri- 
can intervention  in  Nicaragua  "in  which  for  the  first  time  in  American 
labor  history  the  marines  were  appealed  to  on  the  necessity  to  fight 
against  their  own  government,"  work  of  the  All-American  Anti-Impe- 
rialist League,  the  Labor  Party  movement,  the  Sacco-Vanzetti  campaign, 
the  campaign  for  the  protection  of  the  foreign  born,  the  work  of  the  Anti- 
Fascist  Alliance  of  North  America,  the  Unemployed  Councils,  the  Trade 
Union  Educational  League,  the  anthracite  coal  strike,  the  Passaic  textile 
strike,  the  furriers'  strike,  the  cloak-makers'  strike,  the  bituminous  coal 
strike,  the  Colorado  miners'  strike,  the  Haverhill  shoe-workers'  strike, 
party  schools,  the  party  press,  work  in  the  cooperatives,  work  among  the 
farmers,  the  International  Labor  Defense,  the  Workers  International 
Relief,  the  Workers'  Sports  Federation,  the  American  Negro  Labor  Con- 
gress, anti-American  agitation  in  the  Philippines  and  in  Hawaii,  work 
among  women,  the  Young  Workers'  League,  number  of  members  and 
units  of  the  Workers  (Communist)  Party.  No  Congressional  committee 
in  the  United  States  ever  was  able  to  secure  so  detailed  a  report  of  the 
activities  of  the  American  Communists. 

As  late  as  April  1945,  Jacques  Duclos,  member  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Communist  International,  published  in  the  Cahiers 
Du  Communisme,  theoretical  organ  of  the  Communist  Party  of  France, 
the  following  detailed  information  regarding  the  American  Communist 
Political  Association :  a  study  of  various  speeches  by  Earl  Browder,  a 
comment  on  William  Z.  Foster 's  unpublished  letter  of  criticism  of  Brow- 
der 's  position,  a  comment  on  the  unpublished  speech  of  Samuel  Darcy,  a 
study  of  the  organization 's  membership  figures. 

Since  it  has  not  been  the  Comintern  practice  for  one  party  to  report 
its  internal  affairs  and  difficulties  to  another  but  rather  to  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Communist  International,  one  is  forced  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  Duclos '  familiarity  with  these  matters  was  the  result  of  informa- 
tion received  through  official  international  Communist  headquarters  in 
Moscow,  for  whom  he  was  acting  as  spokesman. 

These  reports  are  thoroughly  discussed  by  various  committees  of  the 
Comintern.  They  are  subjected  to  intensive  criticism  on  the  basis  of  which 
instructions  are  sent  to  the  party  concerned,  "  (a)  through  correspond- 
ence; (b)  through  instructors;  (c)  through  workers  from  the  Depart- 
ment." (Report  of  the  organization  Department  of  the  E.  C.  C.  I.  5th — 
6th  Cong.  p.  32.) 

The  recent  detailed  criticism  of  the  American  party  by  Jacques 
Duclos  may  be  properly  considered  as  a  criticism  by  the  international 
executive  committee. 

For  those  who  cherish  the  illusion  that  the  Communist  Party  of  the 
Soviet  Union  has  voluntarily  liquidated  this  world-wide  apparatus  built 
up  in  the  course  of  26  years  of  laborious  effort  and  struggle,  for 
those  who  retain  even  a  vestige  of  doubt  regarding  the  maintenance  of 
this  network,  let  us  add  these  memorable  words  from  Stalin 's  oration  at 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  175 

Lenin's  funeral.  They  were  reprinted  in  the  New  York  Times  of  August 
19,  1945,  without  the  slightest  protest  from  Soviet  sources: 

In  leaving  ns  Comrade  Lenin  ordered  us  to  strengthen  and  expand  the  Union 
of  the  Republics.  We  swear  to  thee.  Comrade  Lenin,  to  honor  thy  command.  *  *  * 
In  leaving  us,  Comrade  Lenin  enjoined  us  to  be  faithful  to  the  Communist  Interna- 
tional. We  swear  to  thee,  Comrade  Lenin,  that  Ave  shall  dedicate  our  lives  to  the 
enlargement  and  the  reinforcement  of  the  union  of  (he  workers  of  the  world,  the  Com- 
munist International. 

VI.     The  American  Section  of  the  World  Communist  Party 

The  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  has  functioned  at  all 
times  and  throughout  all  its  forms  as  an  integral  part  of  the  Moscow- 
controlled  world-wide  Communist  apparatus,  submitting  unreservedly 
to  its  decisions,  placing  its  resources  and  individual  members  at  the 
full  disposal  of  the  Soviet  Government  or  the  Comintern  for  assignment 
to  duty  in  any  part  of  the  globe,  and  receiving  in  return  certain  special, 
branch  office  privileges. 

American  Communist  literature  abounds  in  declarations  of  com- 
plete subservience  to  the  Communist  International  and  its  decisions, 
from  which  a  few  examples  are  cited.  In  1929,  the  Comintern  forwarded 
an  address  to  the  United  States  calling  for  the  repudiation  of  the  leaders 
of  the  American  party  elected  at  a  convention  held  in  March,  1929.  The 
Daily  Worker  of  June  1,  1929,  page  1,  has  described  the  reaction  to  this 
document : 

The  Address  of  the  Comintern  to  the  American  party  members  was  received 
14  days  ago.  The  Political  Committee  immediately,  by  unanimous  vote,  accepted, 
endorsed,  and  pledged  to  carry  it  into  effect  and  fight  against  any  opposition  to  it, 
open  or  concealed.  The  Address  was  published  in  the  Daily  Worker  of  May  20,  the 
first  issue  after  receipt  of  the  document.  *  *  *  By  mail  and  telegraph  a  constant 
stream  of  messages  has  poured  into  the  Party  office,  from  district  organizers,  district 
bureaus,  language  bureaus  and  newspaper  staffs,  and  from  leading  workers,  all 
accepting,  endorsing  and  pledging  to  struggle  for  the  line  of  the  Address  and  against 
all  opposition  to  it. 

In  an  article  entitled  "Milestones  of  Comintern  Leadership"'  by 
Alex  Bittelman,  now  a  member  of  the  National  Board  of  the  Communist 
Party,  U.  S.  A.,  we  find  the  following  acknowledgment  by  an  official 
representative  of  that  party,  of  the  role  played  by  the  Comintern  in  the 
affairs  of  the  American  party : 

A  unified  and  single  Communist  Party  was  materialized  in  the  United'  States 
in  shorter  time,  less  painfully  and  wastefully,  than  would  have  been  tin-  case 
without  the  advice  and  assistance  of  the  Comintern.  *  *  *  Once  more  the  Americas 
Communists  consulted  with  the  Communist  International.  That  was  in  V.)'21'22. 
And  correct  advice  came,  as  ii  was  bound  to,  and  witli  its  help  "Workers  Party"  was 
organized.  *  *  *  What  was  it  thai  proved  especially  helpful  for  the  American  Com- 
munist in  the  Comintern  advice  on  legal  and  illegal  work?  It  was  the  world  and 
Russian  experience  of  Bolshevism.  *  *  *  It  was  the  Comintern  advice  and  guidance 
that  helped  American  Communists  to  turn  full  face  to  the  building  of  a  Left  Wing 
in  the  reformist  unions  beginning  with  U<20;  it  was  tin-  advice  of  the  Comintern 
that  helped  formulate  a  correct  solution  to  one  of  the  basic  problems  of  the  American 
proletariat — the  organization  of  the  unorganized  into  trade-unions ;  it  was  advice 
of  the  Comintern  on  independent  leadership  of  the  economic  struggles  by  the  revolu 
tionary  elements  thai  helped  formulate  strike  policies  and  tactics.  :::  *  :;:  Once  more 
came  the  ''outside*'  influence  of  the  Comintern;  and  what  did  it  say?  It  said  that 
the  struggle  against  discrimination   and   for   Negro   rights  is  a   revolutionary  struggle 

for  the  national  liberati f  the  Negroes,  thai  must  fighl  for  c  >mplete  Negro  equality, 

and  that  in  the  Black   I  Jell    the  full   realization  of  this  demand   requires  the  fighl    for 
the  national  self-determination  of  the  Negroes  including  the  righl  of  separation  from 


176  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

the  United  States  and  the  organization  of  an  independent  state.  *  *  *  The  Comintern 
undertook  to  prepare  the  proletarian  vanguard,  the  Communist  Party,  and  through 
it  the  whole  working  class  for  effective  struggle  against  unemployment.  (Communist, 
March,  1934). 

On  a  number  of  occasions,  Earl  Browder,  as  the  executive  head  of 
the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States,  has  expressed  his  complete 
acceptance  of  Comintern  decisions.  At  its  Eighth  Convention  on  April 
2-8,  1934,  he  stated  in  his  official  report : 

The  task  of  our  Party  today,  the  tasks  of  this  Convention,  have  been  clearly 
and  systematically  set  forth  in  the  documents  before  us  for  adoption,  especially 
the  Theses  and  Decisions  of  the  13th  Plenum  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Com- 
munist International.  *  *  *  My  report  has  been  for  the  purpose  of  further  elaborat- 
ing these  fundamental  directives  and  discussing  some  of  our  central  problems 
concretely  in  the  light  of  these  directives.  (Communism  in  the  United  Ktntes,  by  Earl 
Browder,  page  78.) 

Even  when  such  decisions  involved  severest  criticism,  Mr.  Browder 's 
submission  to  the  Comintern  was  never  in  doubt.  Criticized  for  certain 
errors  on  the  question  of  America's  relation  toward  Japan,  he  declared 
in  his  report  to  the  16th  Plenum  of  the  Central  Committee  of  the  Com- 
munist Party,  USA,  on  January  28,  ]  933 : 

With  regard  to  my  own  errors  in  this  question  I  must  admit  an  additional 
weakness  in  not  yet  having  written  the  extended  article  on  this  whole  question  that 
was  suggested  in  the  letter  of  the  Comintern.  (Communist,  March,  1933,  p.  237.) 

In  the  same  spirit  he  received  the  critical  letter  of  Jacques  Duclos, 
which  served  to  remove  Browder  from  the  leadership  of  the  American 
partjr  with  the  statement  that, 

We  can  only  welcome  the  initiative  of  Jacques  Duclos.  (Worker,  May  27,  1945, 
Section  3,  p.  1.) 

In  his  authoritative  "Manual  on  Organization,"  J.  Peters  has  laid 
down  the  principle  which  guides  the  American  party  in  its  attitude 
toward  the  Comintern,  as  follows : 

We  do  not  question  the  political  correctness  of  the  decisions,  resolutions,  etc., 
of  the  Executive  Committee  of  C.  I.  (page  27) . 

AMERICAN    DELEGATES    TO    MOSCOW 

Since  1917,  there  has  been  an  endless  pilgrimage  of  American  Com- 
munists to  Moscow,  including  delegates  to  Comintern  Congresses  and 
Plenums  of  the  E.  C.  C.  I.  between  Congresses,  direct  representatives 
of  the  American  Communist  Party,  workers  in  special  departments, 
students,  information  specialists,  trade-union  delegations,  tourists,  repre- 
sentatives of  Communist-front  organizations,  couriers,  and  secret  agents. 
For  the  most  part  these  individuals  traveled  under  aliases  and  false 
passports.  Thus  Moscow  came  to  be  known  in  inner  party  circles  as 
Mecca.  The  conspiratorial  nature  of  the  Communist  movement  pre- 
cludes the  possibility  of  presenting  anything  but  a  partial  list  of  these 
to  indicate  the  pattern. 

The  following  representatives  of  the  American  Communist  move- 
ment were  delegates  to  the  various  congresses  of  the  Communist  Inter- 
national in  Moscow : 

First  Congress,  March  1-6,  1919  : 
John  Reed 

Boris  Reinstein,  alias  Davidson 
S.  K.  Rutgers 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  177 

Second  Congress,  July  23-August  7,  1920 : 

Louis  C.  Fraina  (Communist  Party  of  America). 
Alexander  Stocklitsky  (Communist  Party  of  America). 
John  Reed   (Communist  Labor  Party). 
John  N.  Jorgis  (Communist  Labor  Party). 
Alexander  Bilan  (Communist  Labor  Party). 

Edward  I.  Lindgren,  alias  Flyiin   (Communist  Party  of  America). 
Member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist   International— John 
Reed. 

Third  Congress,  June  22-July  12,  1921 : 
Robert  Minor,  alias  Ballester 
Max  Bedacht,  alias  Marshall 

Bill  Haywood  for  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World 
Nicholas  Hourwich,  alias  Andrews 
Oscar  Tywerousky,  alias  Baldwin 
Ella  Reeve  Bloor 
Jack  Crosby 
Member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  International — Baldwin. 

Fourth  Congress,  November  7-December  3,  1922  : 
L.  E.  Katterfeld,  alias  Carr  * 

Max  Bedacht.  alias  Marshall 

*  *  *,  alias  Pullman 
T.  R.  Sullivan 

Arne  Swabeck,  alias  Lansing 
Otto  Huiswood,  alias  J.  Billings 
Claude  McKay 

*  *   *  Kucher 

Alexander  Trachtenberg  (Workers  Party  of  America) 
Max  Bedacht  (Workers  Party  of  America) 

*  *   *  alias  James  Cartwright  (Workers  Party  of  America) 

Member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  International — Carr, 
James  P.  Cannon.  Substitute — Charles  E.  Ruthenberg,  alias  Damon. 

Fifth  Congress,  June  17-July  S,  1924 : 
William  F.  Dunne 
Israel  Amter 

*  *  *  Jackson 

Joseph  Pogany,  alias  John  Pepper 

Sixth  Congress,  July  25-September  1,  1928 : 

Lovett  Fort-Whiteman  Benjamin  Gitlow 

William  W.  Weinstone  Earl  Browder,  alias  Dixon 

James  P.  Cannon  Samuel  Darcy 

•     James  W.  Ford  Bertram  D.  Wolfe 

John  Pepper  William  Z.  Foster 

Otto  Hall,  alias  Jones  Jay  Lovestone 

Harry  M.  AVicks  Manuel  Gomez 

Alex  Bittelman  William  F.  Dunne 

Member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  Interna tional — William 
Z.  Foster,  Jay  Lovestone  (expelled);  candidates.  Benjamin  Gitlow,  <)tt<> 
Huiswood;  later  Robert  Minor,  alias  Randolph.  Gitlow  was  later  expelled. 

Seventh  Congress,  July  25-August  21,  1935  : 

Earl  Browder  James  W.  Ford 

William  Z.  Foster  Robert  Minor 

Gilbert  Green  Samuel  Darcy 

Member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Communist  international  -William 
Z.  Foster,  Earl  Browder,  Gilbert  Green  ;  candidate,  James  YV.   Ford. 


178  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

Testifying  under  oath  before  the  Special  Committee  on  Un-Amer- 
ican Activities,  Earl  Browder  enumerated  his  trips  to  Moscow  as  follows : 

My  first  visit  was  in  1921.  *  *  *  My  next  visit  was  in  1926.  *  *  *  I  believe  I 
have  visited  there  almost  at  least  once  a  year  since  then.  My  last  visit  was  in  1938. 
*  *  *  Since  1930  I  visited  there  because  of  my  position  as  general  secretary  of  the 
party,  and  a  desire  to  confer  with  Communists  in  the  Soviet  Union  and  other  countries. 
(Hearing,  vol.  7,  p.  4324.) 

MISSIONS  TO  MOSCOW  ! 

William  Z.  Foster,  present  leader  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A., 
testified  before  the  same  committee  on  September  29,  1939,  that  he  had 
visited  the  Soviet  Union  on  official  Communist  business  at  least  ten 
times  in  1921, 1923  or  1924, 1926,  1928, 1929, 1930,  1934,  1935,  and  1937. 

Between  congresses  of  the  Comintern,  the  American  Communist 
Party  maintained  official  representatives  in  Moscow.  Among  those  listed 
by  Benjamin  Gitlow,  former  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Comintern,  are  the  following:  Israel  Amter,  Max  Bedacht,  Robert 
Minor,  Louis  J.  Engdahl,  Earl  Browder,  Harrison  George,  H.  M.  Wicks, 
William  W.  Weinstone,  and  others.  ("Hearings,  Special  Committee  on 
Un-American  Activities,  vol.  7,  p.  4590.) 

Among  those  called  to  Moscow  in  1929  to  discuss  the  factional  situ- 
ation in  the  American  Party  were :  William  Z.  Foster,  Alex  Bittelman, 
Max  Bedacht,  William  W.  Weinstone,  Jay  Lovestone,  Benjamin  Gitlow, 
William  Miller,  Tom  Myerscough,  William  White,  Edward  Welsh,  Bert- 
ram D.  Wolfe,  and  Alex  Noral. 

In  his  autobiographical  work.  Proletarian  Journey,  Fred  E.  Beal, 
former  Communist  strike  leader,  tells  of  meeting  the  following  members 
of  the  Central  Executive  Committee  of  the  American  Communist  Party 
in  Moscow  during  the  1930 's:  William  F.  Dunne,  Clarence  Hathaway, 
and  William  W.  Weinstone,  also  John  Little,  representing  the  American 
Young  Communist  League,  and  Michael  Gold,  Daily  Worker  columnist. 

Andrew  Smith,  another  former  member  of  the  American  Commu- 
nist Party,  wrote  the  story  of  his  adventures  in  the  Soviet  Union  in  a 
book  entitled  /  Was  a  Soviet  Worker,  in  which  he  told  of  conferring 
with  John  J.  Ballam,  J.  Peters,  and  Andrew  Overgaard,  a  trade-union 
specialist,  and  all  representatives  of  the  American  party  in  Moscow. 
Smith 's  credentials  were  signed  by  J.  Peters  and  reproduced  in  his  book. 

AMERICAN  AGENTS  OF  MOSCOW 

As  a  part  of  a  disciplined  world  party,  members  of  the  American 
Communist  Party  are  subject  to  assignment  to  Moscow  or  any  other  part 
of  the  world  under  the  orders  of  the  Comintern.  It  would  require  an 
omnipotent  intelligence  service  to  list  all  of  these  agents  and  their  many 
varied  activities.  We  can  only  list  some  by  way  of  example : 

EARL  BROWDER,  head  of  the  Pan-Pacific  Secretariat,  with  headquarters  in 
Hankow,  China,  in  1927  ;  editor  of  its  official  organ,  the  Pan-Pacific  Worker;  works 
published  in  the  Soviet  Union. 

PHILIP  ARONBERG,  assistant  to  Browder  in  China. 

HARRY  M.  WICKS,  representative  to  Germany  and  Latin  America   (1926). 

WILLIAM  P.  DUNNE,  representative  to  France  and  Germany. 

JOSEPH  ZACK,  representative  to  Latin  America,  especially  Venezuela  (1932). 

JACK  JOHNSTONE,  representative  to  India  and  deported  by  the  British  Gov- 
ornment  (1928). 

HARRISON  GEORGE,  representative  to  Montevideo  (1926). 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  179 

CHARLES  KBUMBEIN,  representative  to  Great  Britain  (1930). 

ROBERT  MINOR  and  EARL  BROWDER,  acting  in  behalf  of  the  National 
Committee  of  the  American  Communist  Party  in  Spain  in  1936-1939.  Andre  Marty, 
member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Comintern,  was  the  head  of  an  international 
secretariat  in  general  charge  of  operations.  Other  Comintern  representatives  in  Spain 
were  Generals  Emil  Kleber,  Lukacz,  Krieger,  Cole  Dumont,  and  Vladimir  Copic.  Earl 
Browder  has  estimated  that  at  least  2,000  members  of  the  American  Communist  Party 
were  members  of  the  Abraham  Lincoln  Brigade  in  Spain  at  the  time.  Minor  officials 
of  the  American  party  in  Spain  were  John  Gates,  member  of  the  New  York  State 
Committee;  William  Lawrence,  organizational  secretary  of  New  York  State;  Joe 
Dallet,  section  organizer  in  Youngstown,  Ohio  ;  Saul  Wellman,  member  of  the  New 
York  State  Committee  of  the  Young  Communist  League;  Steve  Nelson,  member  of 
the  National  Committee,  and  Joseph  North,  editor  of  the  Neiv  Masses.  (For  an 
extensive  list  of  members  of  the  Abraham  Lincoln  Brigade,  organized  by  the  Commu- 
nist Party  of  the  United  States,  see  Committee-  on  Un-American  Activities,  Appendix 
IX,  pp.  274-291.)   (See  also,  pp.  553-554  of  this  report.) 

LEONARD  EMU,  MIXS,  American  Communist  research  analyst  for  the  Office 
of  Strategic  Services,  later  suspended.  Editor  for  the  Marx-Engels-Lenin  Institute  in 
Moscow  prior  to  1936. 

NICHOLAS  DOZENBERG,  business  manager  of  the  Voice  of  Labor,  official 
organ  of  the  Workers  Party  of  America,  1920-1923  ;  business  manager  of  the  Worker, 
official  organ  of  the  Workers  Party  of  America  and  manager  of  the  Workers  Publish- 
ing Society,  1923-1927 ;  agent  of  the  Soviet  Military  Intelligence,  1927-1939. 

SCHACHNO  EPSTEIN,  editor  of  the  Morning  Freiheit,  official  Yiddish  organ 
of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  ;  secretary  of  the  Jewish  Anti-Fascist 
Committee  in  Moscow  in  1944  ;  editor  of  the  Ernes,  Yiddish  organ  in  the  Soviet  Union, 
until  his  decease  in  1945. 

WILLIANA  BURROUGHS,  Communist  candidate  for  Lieutenant  Governor  of 
New  York  State  in  1934;  English-language  announcer  for  the  Anglo-American  depart- 
ment of  the  Moscow  radio  for  nearly  10  years,  until  October  1945. 

Within  the  year  1934  the  following  American  Communists  contrib- 
uted articles  to  the  International  Press  Correspondence  (Inprecorr), 
official  weekly  press  organ  of  the  Communist  International :  Hy  Kravif , 
A.  G.  Bosse,  alias  for  Alfred  J.  Brooks,  Jack  Hardy,  alias  for  Dale  Zys- 
man,  Earl  Reeve,  Esther  Lowell,  Sascha  Small,  Howard  Lindsay,  Charles 
D.  Fletcher,  Grace  Hutchins,  Al  Steele,  M.  Morris,  Joseph  North,  I. 
Amter,  A.  A.  Heller,  Robert  Julien  Kenton,  Edwin  Seaver,  Anna  Damon, 
Louis  Coleman,  P.  Francis,  A.  B.  Magil,  Alan  Calmer,  H.  Puro,  Samuel 
AYeinman,  Rose  Crane,  Leo  Thompson,  Simon  W.  Gerson,  Vern  Smith, 
Rose  Baron,  William  L.  Patterson,  Isiclor  Schneider,  P.  Lapinsky,  Paul 
Novick,  Harry  Dawson,  Peter  Dorn,  Paul  Levin. 

A.  G.  BOSSE,  alias  for  Alfred  J.  Brooks,  a  public-school  teacher  of  the  New 
York  public  schools,  a  member  of  the  Communist  Party,  USA,  had  absented  himself 
from  his  position  from  1929  to  1932  to  serve  as  a  "referent"  or  information  specialist 
for  the  Communist  International  in  Moscow.  (Report  of  the  Subcommittee  of  the  Joint 
Legislative  Committee  to  Investigate  Procedures  and  Methods  of  Allocating  State 
Moneys  for  Public  School  Purposes  and  Subversive  Activities,  pp.  314-317.) 

JOSEPH  KOWALSKI,  editor  of  the  Communist  paper,  Qlos  Lodowy  ;  in  charge 
of  a  Soviet  penitentiary  between  1920  and  1923,  alter  his  deportation  from  the  United 
States  in  1920;  uow  active  in  the  United  States.  Special  Committee  on  Un-Americau 
Activities,  vol.  2,  p.  1310.) 

ANNA  LOUISE  STRONG,  writer  for  the  following  Communist  magazines  in 
the  United  States:  Liberator,  New  Musses,  Soviet  J<ussi<i  Today,  Labor  Herald, 
Workers  Monthly,  /Sunday  Worker;  editor  of  the  Moscow  Daily  News. 

Speaking  of  some  of  the  founders  of  the  American  Communist  Party, 
Jay  Lovestone,  its  former  executive  secretary,  stated  that  some  of  them 

are  now  holding  the  highesl  p>>stx  in  the  Communis!  Party  of  the  S'>\  Let  Union,  in  the 
Russian  Trade  Unions,  and  in  the  Soviet  Government  (pages  from  Parly  History  by 
J.  LovestoneL 


180  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

An  American  Communist,  whether  he  be  a  member  of  a  trade-union 
or  other  organization  or  employed  in  private  industry  or  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, is  merely  a  cog  in  this  vast  international  apparatus. 

Among  those  who  received  special  revolutionary  training  at  the 
Marx-Lenin  Institute  and  other  schools  in  Moscow  were  the  following 
leaders  of  the  American  Communist  Party :  Carl  Reeve,  Charles  Krum- 
bein,  Joseph  Zack,  William  Odell  Nowell,  Beatrice  Siskind,  Clarence 
Hathaway,  Morris  Childs,  also  known  as  Chilofsky  and  as  Summers, 
Harry  M.  Wicks,  Marcel  Scherer,  Otto  Hall,  Lovett  Fort-Whiteman,  who 
in  turn  sent  10  young  Negro  students  to  Moscow,  and  many  others.  Mr. 
Nowell,  who  has  since  repudiated  the  Communist  Party,  testified  before 
the  Special  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities  as  to  the  character  of 
this  training. 

He  testified  that  he  had  been  a  student  at  the  Lenin  University  from 
September,  1931  to  December,  1932;  that  his  traveling  expenses  from 
Detroit  were  paid  by  the  Central  Committee  of  the  American  Commu- 
nist Party ;  that  his  living  expenses  in  Moscow  were  defrayed  by  the 
Communist  International  and  the  Soviet  Government;  that  there  were 
approximately  30  other  American  students  at  the  University  at  the  time. 
Among  the  subjects  he  studied  were  strike  strategy,  military  science, 
secret  service,  codes,  Communist  strategy,  street  fighting,  civil  warfare, 
organization,  tactics  and  methods  of  the  Red  Army,  and  sabotage  {Hear- 
ings, vol.  11,  pp.  7020  to  7026).  A  conservative  estimate  would  show  at 
least  several  hundred  such  highly  trained  operatives  in  the  United  States 
at  the  present  time. 

(See  also,  Pages  198-199  for  NowelVs  testimony.) 

Indicative  of  the  reverent  attitude  of  American  Communists  toward 
Moscow  is  the  fact  that  the  remains  of  such  leading  American  Commu- 
nists as  John  Reed  and  Charles  E.  Ruthenberg  are  buried  at  the  wall  of 
the  Kremlin  in  that  city.  When  William  Z.  Foster  suffered  a  serious  heart 
ailment  between  1932  and  1936,  he  went  to  the  Soviet  Union  for  treatment. 

PRESS  PROPAGANDA 

The  report  of  the  Agitation  and  Propaganda  Department  (Agit- 
prop) of  the  Comintern,  issued  between  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  Congresses, 
indicated  extensive  aid  to  the  press  of  the  Communist  Parties  through- 
out the  world.  This  report  says  that — 

The  supply  of  the  Party  press  with  useful  material,  which  was  one  of  the  first 
and  foremost  through  the  "Inprecorr,"  proved  to  be  the  best  way  of  influencing  it 
(P.  42). 

Scattered  throughout  the  American  Communist  press  of  this  period  are 
reprints  of  Inprecorr  or  International  Press  Correspondence  material. 
Inprecorr  was  succeeded  by  World  News  and  Views,  later  by  the  War  and 
the  Working  Classes  and  most  recently  by  New  Times.  Reprints  from 
these  two  Moscow  organs  have  appeared  in  the  Communist,  later  known 
as  Political  Affairs  on  the  following  dates:  March,  1944;  April,  1944; 
May,  1944 ;  July,  1944 ;  August,  1944 ;  December,  1944 ;  June,  1945,  and 
October,  1945. 

The  Agitprop  also — 

supported  the  steps  taken  for  the  organization  of  a  telegraph  agency  which,  since 
March,  1927,  has  been  supplying  firstly  the  biggest  Communist  newspapers  of  the 
capitalist  countries  *  *  *  and  which  has  now  extended  its  work  and  is  transmitting  news 
between  European  countries. 


UN-AMERICAN   ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 


181 


Official  sources  show  that  in  the  middle  of  1945  Moscow  supplied  the 
following-  publications  and  news  agencies  in  the  United  States  with  such 

cabled  and  radio  news,  the  customary  practice  being  that  such  material 
is  sent  prepaid : 

Number 

Name  of  words                 Address 

Allied  Labor  News 3,500  1133  Broadway,  New  York  City. 

Azember 600  320  East  79th  St.,  New  York  City. 

Bratsky  Vestnik 800  3146  South  16th  St.,  Omaha,  Nebr. 

California  Labor  Herald 400  150  Golden  Gate  Ave.,  San  Francisco. 

Gl.is  Xarodna 1.700  216  West  18th  St.,  New  York  City. 

Glas  Ludowy 6,000  5856  Chene  St.,  Detroit. 

Giviagda  Poparna 100  Stevens  Point,  Wis. 

Intercontinent  News 19,000  1133  Broadway,  New  York  City. 

Karpatska  Rus 3,500  556  Yonkers  Ave.,  Yonkers,  N.  Y. 

Lraper    1.800  40  East  12th  St.,  New  York  City. 

Ludovy  Dennik 1,000  1916  East  St.,  Pittsburgh. 

Magyar  Jovo 1,500  413  East  14th  St.,  New  York  City. 

Narodni  Glasnik 600  1916  East  St.,  Pittsburgh. 

Narodna  Volya 100  5856  Chenester,  Detroit. 

Xasz  Swiah 1,400  5003  Gramme  Ave.,  Detroit. 

New  Masses 7,000  104  East  9th  St.,  New  York  City. 

New  York  Listy 1,400  435  East  86th  St.,  New  York  City. 

Nova   Doba   600  1448  West  18th  St.,  Chicago. 

Pravada    900  1916  East  St.,  Pittsburgh. 

Russky  Golos 2,100  130  East  16th  St.,  New  York  City. 

Slobodna  Rech 1,400  1916  East  St.,  Pittsburgh. 

Sovposol 5,200  Washington,  D.  C. 

Sovruday    3,500  New  York  City. 

Svornost 800  2520  South  Pulaski  Rd.,  Chicago. 

Trade  Union  Service 1,200  220  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York  City. 

Ukranian  Daily  News 3,500  85  East  4th  St.,  New  York  City. 

Yugoslav  Herald 2,500  223  Valencia  St.,  San  Francisco. 

Yugoslavenski 700  Obzav  National  Ave.,  Milwaukee. 

Pravada   1,400  1732  Brandvwine  St.,  Philadelphia. 

An  examination  of  the  contents  and  ownership  of  these  publications 
will  disclose  their  Communist  character  and  control  at  the  time  this 
study  was  made. 

Correspondents  from  all  parts  of  the  world  feed  material  into  the 
Daily  Worker  and  the  Worker  and  constitute  a  part  of  the  vast  inter- 
national Communist  information  network,  the  following  being  a  partial 
list:  Nicholas  Bogdanov,  Tokyo;  Juan  Balahap,  Philippine  Islands; 
Ruy  Faco,  Rio  de  Janeiro ;  Kostas  Karayorghis,  Athens ;  Rupert  Lock- 
wood,  Sydney ;  Ivor  Montagu,  John  Ireland,  William  Rust,  London ; 
Sean  Nolan,  Ireland ;  Paul  Rosas,  Indonesia ;  David  Raymond,  Allied 
Labor  News;  Ionel  Stejuru,  Rumania;  Owen  Roche,  Mexico  City; 
Susumu  Ikano,  Yenan ;  Stanley  Ryerson  in  Toronto  ;  J.  B.  S.  ITaldane  in 
London;  Derek  Kartun,  Paris;  Florimonds  Bonte  in  Algiers;  Ilumberto 
Lillo  Bernales  in  Santiago ;  Rodolfo  Ghioldi  in  Montevideo ;  Alvaro  San- 
clements,  Venezuela;  John  Gibbons  in  Moscow;  P.  C.  Joshi  in  Bombay; 
Anival  Escalante  in  Havana,  and  many  others,  indicating  that  the  Com- 
munist Party,  U.  S.  A.,  is  now  as  it  has  always  been  an  integral  part  of 
a  World  Communist  Paiiy. 

INTERNATIONAL  HOLIDAYS 

The  Communist  International  laid  down  directives  for  holidays  to 
be  celebrated  by  the  American  Communist  Party  and  campaigns  to  be 


182  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

carried  out.  The  Report  from  the  Fifth  to  the  Sixth  Congress  stated 
that— 

Since  the  beginning  of  1927,  the  following  campaigns  have  been  carried  out  with 
the  support  of  the  agitation  subdepartment : 

Lenin  Week,  1927. 

The  Anniversary  of  the  February  Revolution. 

May  Day,  1927. 

The  Tenth  Anniversary  of  the  October  Revolution. 

Lenin  Week,  1928. 

The  Tenth  Anniversary  of  the  Red  Army. 

Campaigns  against  White  terror  and  the  execution  of  Sacco  and  Vanzetti  (p.  40) . 

The  May  Day  Manifestos  of  the  Communist  International  giving 
the  agitational  slogans  for  the  given  period  were  published  over  a  period 
of  years  in  the  following  issues  of  the  Daily  Worker :  May  1,  1930 ;  April 
28,  1931 ;  April  30,  1932 ;  April  30,  1933 ;  April  27,  1935 ;  May  1,  1936 ; 
May  1,  1937 ;  April  30,  1938 ;  May  1,  1940. 

The  Comintern  report  issued  between  the  5th  and  the  6th  Con- 
gresses, called  attention  to  the  fact  that — 

The  British,  Czech  and  American  Parties  have  also  held  central  schools  which 
were  supported  by  the  Propaganda  Sub-Department  of  the  ECCI  by  the  drawing  up  of 
syllabuses  on  various  subjects  in  the  sphere  of  Leninism,  and  by  instructions  on  organ- 
ization and  method  (p.  45) . 

So  much  did  the  Soviet  Union  consider  American  Communists  as 
their  own  that  quite  a  number  fled  to  the  Soviet  Union  or  received  shelter 
there  after  having  been  convicted  for  the  violation  of  the  laws  of  the 
United  States.  In  his  biographical  work  entitled  "Proletarian  Journey," 
Fred  E.  Beal  describes  how  he  and  six  others  convicted  in  the  famous 
Gastonia  Case,  jumped  bail  and  fled  to  the  Soviet  Union  to  be  warmly 
received  by  the  MOPR,  Russian  section  of  the  International  Labor 
Defense,  and  later  assigned  to  posts  under  the  Soviet  Government.  Other 
fugitives  from  American  justice  who  received  a  Soviet  welcome  were 
Harry  Eisman,  William  D.  Haywood,  Louis  Bebritz,  and  many  others. 

It  is  clear  from  the  foregoing  that  the  American  Communist  Party 
not  only  accepted  instructions  from  international  Communist  head- 
quarters in  Moscow  but  willingly  and  wittingly  acted  in  every  sense  as 
the  American  agent  of  its  Soviet  principal  an  obligation  which  in  turn 
devolved  upon  every  single  member  of  the  American  party. 

The  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  Is  an  Advocate  of 
Overthrow  of  Government  by  Force  and  Violence 

Introduction 

The  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  of  America  advocates 
the  overthrow  of  our  Government  by  force  and  violence.  As  documentary 
proof  of  this,  the  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities  submits  the 
following  evidence  and  analysis. 

The  committee  hopes  that  this  report  will  dispel  any  confusion  on 
the  question  that  may  presently  exist  in  the  mind  of  the  American 
public,  demonstrate  the  urgent  need  for  adopting  and  enforcing  legis- 
lation dealing  with  the  Communist  Party,  and  illustrate  the  voluminous 
evidence  available  for  such  legislation  and  its  enforcement. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  183 

This  report  establishes  conclusively  that : 

(1)  The  teachings  of  Marx,  Engels,  Lenin,  and  Stalin  consti- 
tute the  credo  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A. — in  fact  of  the 
communist  movement  throughout  the  world.  The  doctrine  of  forceful 
and  violent  overthrow  of  anti- Communist  governments  is  a  basic 
premise  of  these  teachings. 

(2)  The  model  party  of  the  American  Communist  is  the  Com- 
munist Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  whose  history  forms  a  basic 
"guide"  or  textbook  for  American  Communists  on  the  practice  of 
force  and  violence. 

(3)  The  American  Party  is  now  and  always  has  been  under 
the  direction  of  an  international  Communist  organization  dominated 
by  the  leaders  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  which 
is  established  and  documented  on  the  preceding  pages  ?  ?  to  ?  ?  of 
this  report.  This  was  true  under  the  Communist  International  and 
now  under  the  Communist  Information  Bureau.  This  world  move- 
ment has  consistently  advocated  forceful  and  violent  measures 
against  anti-Communist  governments.  It  is  no  mere  coincidence  that 
in  every  one  of  the  countries  recently  overthrown  by  such  Commu- 
nist violence,  leaders  of  the  Communist  International  have  seized 
positions  of  power. 

(4)  The  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  and  its  leaders,  both 
present  and  past,  are  on  public  record  as  advocates  of  the  forceful 
and  violent  overthrow  of  the  American  Government,  despite  their 
recent  disavowals.  Many  of  these  leaders  have  received  training  in 
Moscow  on  the  practical  application  of  such  methods. 

(5)  The  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  has  encouraged,  supported, 
and  defended,  without  a  single  deviation,  the  ruthless  measures  of 
foreign  Communist  parties  to  overthrow  their  legally  constituted 
governments  by  force  and  violence.  In  other  words,  what  the  Chinese 
or  Greek  Communists  are  doing  today  is  what  the  American  Com- 
munists plan  to  do  tomorrow  under  similar  circumstances. 

(6)  While  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  has  not  yet  made 
a  judicial  determination  on  the  question,  numerous  lower  federal 
courts  have,  with  unusual  consistency,  handed  down  decisions  which 
characterize  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  as  an  advocate  of  over- 
throwing our  government  by  force  and  violence. 

The  threat  offered  to  our  national  security  by  the  continued,  almost 
unrestricted  operation  of  such  a  movement  within  our  own  borders  should 
be  obvious  to  everyone. 

Communism  today,  far  from  being  the  weak,  isolated  movement  it 
once  was,  is  a  powerful  force  for  evil  whose  influence  is  being  exercised 
in  virtually  every  country  in  the  world. 

Under  the  leadership,  support,  and  inspiration  of  the  Soviet  Union, 
a  communistic  dictatorship  has  been  forced  upon  our  nation  after  another 
in  Europe  by  the  ruthless  use  of  force  and  violence.  These  outbursts  of 
Communist  violence— all  obviously  aimed  at  paving  the  way  for  eventual 
subversion  of  the  entire  world  to  Moscow  dictation — have  also  occurred 
in  Asia  and  in  our  own  hemisphere. 


184  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

Each  of  these  subjugated  countries  constitutes  a  bridgehead  from 
which  forcible  and  violent  attacks  can  be  launched  against  the  United 
States  either  directly  or  in  cooperation  with  the  American  Communists. 
Communist  violence  manifested  on  April  9, 1948,  in  Colombia  should 
give  us  all  cause  for  thought.  If  a  handful  of  Communists  could  achieve 
such  effectiveness  in  a  neighbor  country,  far  removed  from  the  Soviet 
Union,  we  cannot  continue  to  blind  ourselves  to  the  menace  of  our  own 
Communists  who  form  a  greater  proportion  of  our  population  than  the 
Colombian  Communist  in  the  Colombian  population. 

The  administration,  in  its  request  for  a  stronger  air  power,  large 
Army,  and  other  national-defense  measures,  has  recognized  the  march 
of  Communist  aggression  as  a  threat  to  our  national  security.  It  has 
failed,  however,  to  appreciate  and  understand  the  potentialities  of  Com- 
munist agents  within  our  Nation.  The  harm  that  can  be  done  by  the 
internal  Communist  movement  in  the  event  of  a  national  emergency  must 
not  be  minimized. 

The  potentialities  for  injury  at  the  hands  of  some  75,000  Commu- 
nist Party  members  and  their  hundreds  of  thousands  of  supporters  in 
the  United  States  is  not  to  be  judged  in  terms  of  their  numerical  strength. 
Modern  society  has  become  so  intricate  that  it  is  conceivably  possible 
for  a  comparatively  small,  closely  knit,  and  determined  group,  located 
in  strategic  and  sensitive  points  and  dedicated  to  the  use  of  force  and 
violence,  to  create  serious  confusion,  to  dislocate  and  perhaps  even  para- 
lyze the  machinery  of  our  economic  and  social  life. 

It  has  been  established  that  the  American  Communists  have  for 
years  concentrated  on  infiltrating  strategic  areas  of  our  economy,  espe- 
cially at  the  vital  parts  of  the  American  military  machine. 

The  advances  of  modern  science  have  made  available  to  each  indi- 
vidual Communist  forces  of  destruction  which  would  have  been  incon- 
ceivable years  ago.  Moreover,  the  advantage  which  the  Communists  hold 
in  being  able  to  work  in  secrecy  makes  us  twice  as  vulnerable  to  a  sudden 
Communist  strike  or  coup  which  will  find  us  utterly  unprepared.  Com- 
munists reaped  the  full  benefit  of  such  surprise  tactics  in  Bogota. 

The  problem  of  our  Communist  minority  is  doubly  serious  in  view 
of  its  basic  belief  that  sabotage,  terrorism,  armed  insurrection,  civil  war, 
and  any  other  measures  of  force  and  violence  are  justified  in  promoting 
the  cause  of  the  Soviet  Union. 

As  this  report  will  show,  such  tactics  have  been  hammered  into  the 
American  Communists  by  their  international  leaders  ever  since  the  move- 
ment in  America  was  started  in  1919.  A  A7irtual  blueprint  for  revolu- 
tionary action  under  such  slogans  as:  Learn  how  to  use  arms!  Acquire 
arms!  Break  up  the  armies!  Seize  the  factories!  Use  terror!  Kill  the 
leaders!  Smash  the  state  machine!  is  provided  in  the  works  of  Marx, 
Engels,  Lenin,  and  Stalin. 

These  works  are  gospel  to  the  American  Communist  movement  and 
to  the  movement  in  every  other  part  of  the  Avorld.  To  those  who  would 
dismiss  this  as  mere  theory,  we  say  that  the  Communists  mean  business, 
here  as  well  as  everywhere  else  in  the  world.  And  we  are  receiving  daily 
examples  from  numerous  foreign  Communist  Parties  who  are  <i}>plying 
these  tactics  in  amazing  conformity  with  the  blueprint  laid  down  by  the 
Communist  theoreticians  previously  referred  to. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  185 

It  should  be  noted  carefully  that  the  teachings  of  the  international 
Communist  leaders  constantly  reiterate  the  instruction  that  all  Commu- 
nist Parties  must ' '  defend  the  U.  S.  S.  R.  *  *  *  by  every  possible  means ' ' 
in  the  event  of  a  war  against  the  Soviet  Union.  The  principal  means 
recommended  by  these  leaders  for  such  defense  of  the  Soviet  Union  is 
the  same  means  they  recommend  for  the  achievement  of  the  overthrow  of 
the  American  Government— civil  war.  This  civil  war,  in  their  own  words, 
"is  unthinkable  without  the  worst  kind  of  destruction,  without  terror 
and  limitations  of  formal  democracy."  The  chairman  of  the  American 
Communist  Party,  William  Z.  Foster,  is  on  public  record  as  endorsing 
such  revolutionary  tactics  despite  his  recent  disavowals. 

The  Communists  have  deliberately  promoted  confusion  regarding 
their  belief  in  violent  overthrow  of  the  American  Government  in  order 
to  lull  the  American  people  into  a  false  sense  of  security  and  to  avoid 
prosecution  under  the  law.  The  committee  hopes  that  this  report  will 
remove  any  doubts  that  may  have  been  created  on  this  point  in  the  mind 
of  the  American  public. 

I.     Denials  and  Misconceptions 

In  recent  years  official  spokesmen  for  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A., 
have  gone  to  considerable  pains  formally  to  deny  the  party's  advocacy 
of  overthrow  of  government  by  force  and  violence. 

The  duplicity  of  such  assurances  is  made  manifest  by  the  fact  that 
the  party  simultaneously  proclaims  its  continued  devotion  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  Marx,  Engels,  Lenin,  and  Stalin,  of  which  the  doctrine  of  over- 
throw of  government  by  force  and  violence  is  an  organic  and  inseparable 
part.  Your  committee  finds  that  such  assurances  are  promulgated  to 
throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  the  American  people  and  for  purposes  of 
evading  the  law.  It  is  clear  that  the  American  Party  is  being  guided  by 
Lenin's  advice  to  make  propaganda  for  armed  uprising  "without  com- 
mitting ourselves  in  the  press. ' ' 

In  this  connection  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  such  examples  of  con- 
scious evasion  as  the  resolution  of  the  National  Committee  of  the  Com- 
munist Party,  U.  S.  A.,  adopted  on  November  16,  1940  to — 
cancel  and  dissolve  its  organizational  affiliation  to  the  Communist  International,  as 
well  as  any  and  all  other  bodies  of  any  kind  outside  the  boundaries  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  for  the  specific  purpose  of  removing  itself  from  the  terms  of  the  so-called 
Voorhis  Act.  (The  Way  Out,  by  Earl  Browder  [International  Publishers,  New  York, 
1941],  p.  191.) 

This  report  documents  and  proves  the  fact  that  there  was  no  actual 
severance.  Similarly  the  Communist  International  was  "dissolved"  on 
May  30,  1943,  as  a  result  of  a  pronouncement  from  Moscow  while  Russia 
was  our  ally,  although  the  subsequent  continued  synchronization  of  the 
Communist  movement  throughout  the  world  is  proof  of  the  falsity  of  the 
alleged  dissolution  of  the  international  organization. 

The  policy  of  deceit  is  so  inherently  a  part  of  the  Communist  move- 
ment that  it  is  reflected  in  every  section  and  phase  thereof,  in  the  conduct 
of  its  members  who  conceal  party  membership,  in  its  numerous  front 
organizations  operating  under  false  labels,  in  the  campaign  of  falsehood 
against  the  United  States  now  in  effect  throughout  the  world  through 
Communist  channels  and  in  the  flagrant  violation  of  international  agree- 
ments by  the  Communist-dominated  government  of  the  Soviet  Union. 


186  UN-AMERICAN   ACTIVITIES   IN   CALIFORNIA 

No  better  case  in  point  could  be  cited  than  the  evidence  contained 
in  the  documents  on  Nazi-Soviet  Relations,  1939-41,  published  by  the 
State  Department.  In  other  words  duplicity  is  innate  in  the  Communist 
movement  which  was  advised  by  Lenin  to  "resort  to  all  sorts  of  devices, 
maneuvers,  and  illegal  methods,  to  evasion  and  subterfuge, ' '  in  order  to 
accomplish  its  purpose.  It  is  in  this  light  that  the  following  Communist 
denials  regarding  the  use  of  force  and  violence  must  be  considered : 

(Statement  of  William  Z.  Foster,  chairman  of  the  Communist  Party, 
U.S.A.:) 

Question.  Docs  the  Communist  Party  advocate  the  overthrow  of  the  United  States 
Government  by  force  and  violence  or  by  any  other  unconstitutional  means? 

Answer.  We'll  let  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  answer  this  ques- 
tion for  us.  In  its  decision  in  the  Schneiderman  case,  June,  1943.  after  examining 
exhaustively,  on  the  one  hand,  the  charges  that  the  Communist  Party  advocates  a 
violent  seizure  of  power  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  practices  and  doctrines  of  the 
party,  including  the  writings  of  Marx,  Lenin,  and  Stalin,  the  Court  said  : 

"A  tenable  conclusion  from  the  foregoing  is  that  the  party  in  1027  desired  to 
achieve  its  purpose  by  peaceful  and  democratic  means,  and  as  a  theoretical  matter 
justified  the  use  of  force  and  violence  only  as  a  method  of  preventing  an  attempted 
forcible  counteroverthrow  once  the  party  had  obtained  control  in  a  peaceful  manner. 
or  as  a  method  of  last  resort  to  enforce  the  majority  will  if  at  some  indefinite  time 
in  the  future  because  of  peculiar  circumstances  constitutional  or  peaceful  channels 
were  no  longer  open." 

We  Communists  accept  this  formulation  as  a  fair  statement  of  our  attitude 
toward  the  question  of  political  violence.  American  Communists  have  always  recog- 
nized the  historical  fact  that  parties  with  advanced  social  programs  cannot  secure 
governmental  power  by  conspirational  methods  or  by  minority  coups  d'etat.  *  *  * 
The  danger  of  violence  in  such  situations  always  comes  from  the  reactionary  elements, 
who  refuse  to  bow  to  the  democratic  majority  will.  (New  York  Herald  Tribune, 
January  11,  1948,  p.  38.) 

Foster  did  not  state  that  the  majority  opinion  in  the  Schneiderman 
case  also  declared  that  ' '  This  court  has  never  passed  upon  the  question 
of  whether  the  party  does  so  advocate,  and  it  is  unnecessary  for  us  to 
do  so  now."  (Schneiderman  v.  United  States,  320  U.  S.  118,  at  p.  148.) 

It  is  generally  conceded  by  legal  authorities  at  the  present  time 
that  the  fact  that  Russia  was  an  ally  at  the  time  of  the  decision  and  the 
pressing  need  of  national  and  international  unity  for  the  task  of  defeat- 
ing the  Axis  Powers,  created  an  atmosphere  conducive  to  a  favorable 
decision  in  this  precedent-making  ease,  of  which  the  court  could  not 
have  been  unmindful.  There  is  good  ground  for  the  belief  that  a  future 
test  case  before  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  will  result  in  a  decisive 
opinion  regarding  the  party's  advocacy  of  overthrow  of  government  by 
force  and  violence.  In  publishing  this  report,  your  committee  seeks  to 
aid  in  clarifying  this  issue. 

In  his  pamphlet  entitled  "Is  Communism  Un-Americant"  Eugene 
Dennis,  general  secretary  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States, 
has  voiced  a  similar  denial  of  advocacy  of  force  and  violence: 

Question.  The  party's  aim  is  the  violent  overthrow  of  the  American  system. 

Answer.  The  position  of  the  Communist  Party  on  this  question  is  definitely 
embodied  in  the  constitution  of  the  Communist  Party  which  states  : 

"Adherence  to  or  participation  in  the  activities  of  any  clique,  group  or  circle, 
faction  or  party,  which  conspires  or  acts  to  subvert,  undermine,  weaken  or  overthrow 
any  or  all  institutions  of  American  democracy,  whereby  the  majority  of  the  American 
people  can  maintain  their  right  to  determine  their  destinies  in  any  degree<  shall  be 
punished  by  immediate  expulsion  *   *   *." 

Force  and  violence — resistance  to  the  process  of  basic  social  change — have 
always  been  initiated  and  exercised  by  reactionary  classes  bent  on  maintaining  their 
power  and  privileges  against  the  will  of  the  overwhelming  majority. 


rX-AMERICAX   ACTIVITIES   EN   CALIFORNIA  187 

COMMUNIST  DECEPTION  IS  BRAZEN 

There  are  a  number  of  cleverly  concocted  loopholes  in  these  formu- 
lations. Whether  it  be  in  a  strike  against  an  employer  or  in  an  attempted 
invasion  of  a  weaker  nation,  the  forces  of  international  communism 
have  adhered  to  Hitler's  technique  of  blaming  any  resultant  violence 
upon  the  victim  of  the  attack. 

On  May  30,  1037,  the  Communists  organized  and  led  a  riot  against 
the  Republic  Steel  plant  in  Chicago  in  which  a  number  of  persons  were 
injured  and  10  were  killed.  A  coroner's  jury  investigation  disclosed  that 
the  riot  had  been  carefully  prepared  by  the  Communists  even  to  the 
extent  of  provision  for  Red  Cross  supplies  and  motion-picture  cameras. 
The  entire  Communist  press  then  proceeded  to  place  the  blame  upon  the 
Republic  Steel  Corporation  and  the  Chicago  police  force. 

Speaking  on  November  29,  1939,  and  in  defense  of  the  unjustified 
Soviet  invasion  of  little  Finland,  V.  M.  Molotov,  Soviet  Commissar  for 
Foreign  Affairs,  brazenly  declared  : 

Men  and  women,  citizens  of  the  Soviet  Union,  the  hostile  policy  pursued  by  the 
present  Government  of  Finland  toward  our  country  compels  us  to  take  immediate 
measures  to  insure  the  external  security  of  our  state  *  *  *  In  recent  days  abomina- 
ble provocations  have  been  initiated  by  the  Finnish  militarists  on  the  frontier 
between  the  Soviet  Union  and  Finland.  *  *  *  (U.  S.  S.  R.  Foreign  Policy,  by  Victor 
A.  Yakhontoff  (Coward-McCann,  Inc.,  New  York,  1945),  p.  225.) 

This  policy  of  blaming  the  victim  of  Communist  attack  for  any 
ensuing  violence,  drew  forth  the  following  sarcastic  comment  from  Chief 
Justice  Harlan  Stone  in  the  Schneiderman  case : 

We  need  not  stop  to  consider  the  much-discussed  question  whether  this  means 
that  that  force  was  to  be  used  if  established  governments  should  be  so  misguided  as 
to  refuse  to  make  themselves  over  into  proletarian  dictatorships  by  amendment  of 
their  governmental  structures,  or  should  have  the  effrontery  to  defend  themselves 
from  lawless  or  subversive  attacks.  For  in  any  case  the  end  contemplated  was  the 
overthrow  of  government,  and  the  measures  advocated  were  force  and  violence. 
{Schneiderman  v.  United  States,  320  U.  S.  118,  at  p.  190.) 

As  another  loophole  it  should  be  noted  that  the  U.  S.  Communist 
constitution  prohibits  action  against  ' '  any  and  all  institutions  of  Amer- 
ican democracy,  whereby  the  majority  of  the  American  people  can 
maintain  their  right  to  determine  their  destinies  in  any  degree. ' ' 

Subversion  is  not  prohibited  against  existing  institutions  of  the 
American  Government.  Thus  the  Communists  have  only  to  decide  for 
themselves  that  such  institutions  are  not  of  a  nature  "whereby  the  major- 
ity of  the  American  people  can  maintain  their  right  to  determine  their 
destinies,"  or  decide  that  a  majority  is  motivated  toward  force  and 
violence  toward  the  institutions  of  American  democracy,  and  the  prohi- 
bition immediately  loses  its  validity. 

Those  who  remember  the  facility  with  which  the  Communists  trans- 
formed their  conception  of  the  United  States  as  a  peace-loving  democ- 
racy into  one  of  warmongering  imperialism  immediately  after  the  sign- 
ing of  the  Stalin-Hitler  pact  in  August,  1939,  will  place  little  reliance 
upon  this  obvious,  face-saving,  legalistic  formula. 

The  sincerity  and  reliability  of  Mr.  Foster's  denial  of  his  party's 
advocacy  of  overthrow  of  our  Government  by  force  and  violence  are 
seriously  impugned  by  his  avowed  hostility  toward  this  Government 
as  expressed  as  recently  as  March,  1948  in  the  [tally's  official  monthly 
organ,  Political  Affairs.  Here  lie  refers  to  the  United  States  as  being 
one  of  two  "hostile  camps,"  that  of  "imperialism,  fascism,  and  Avar," 


188  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

II.  Devotion  to  Principles  of  Marx,  Engels,  Lenin,  and  Stalin 
It  is  difficult  to  find  a  comprehensive  document  published  by  the 
Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  which  does  not  express  the  party 's  devotion 
to  the  teachings  of  one  or  all  of  its  leading  theoreticians,  Marx,  Engels, 
Lenin,  and  Stalin.  Despite  every  fluctuation  of  the  party  line  and  despite 
changes  in  the  personnel  of  its  leadership,  these  principles  remain  as  the 
avowed  and  fundamental  theoretical  oasis  of  the  organization.  This 
report  establishes  clearly  that  their  teachings  advocate  overthrow  of 
government  by  force  and  violence. 

The  constitution  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  adopted  on  July 
28,  1945,  and  presently  in  force,  declares  in  its  preamble : 

The  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  is  the  political  party  of  the  American 
working  class,  basing  itself  upon  the  principles  of  scientific  socialism,  Marxism- 
Leninism. 

Political  Affairs,  formerly  known  as  The  Communist,  ' '  a  magazine 
of  the  theory  and  practice  of  Marxism-Leninism  published  monthly  by 
the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  of  America, ' '  now  calls  itself 
"a  magazine  devoted  to  the  theory  and  practice  of  Marxism -Leninism. " 
Its  chief  editor  is  Eugene  Dennis,  executive  secretary  of  the  party ;  and 
its  editorial  board  consists  of  Dennis  and  V.  J.  Jerome,  Alexander  Bittle- 
man,  Max  Weiss,  and  Henry  Winston,  all  members  of  the  national  board 
of  the  party. 

In  its  February  1948  issue,  on  pages  110  to  118,  in  an  article  entitled 
"The  Communist  Manifesto  Lives!"  Political  Affairs  not  only  empha- 
sizes the  present  validity  and  authority  of  the  Communist  Manifesto  but 
also  stresses  its  common  inspirational  character  with  Communist  Parties 
throughout  the  world.  The  article  shows  that  Lenin  and  Stalin  were 
primarily  inspired  by  the  Communist  Manifesto  and  states  that — 

Manual  of  Procedure 

the  Manifesto  has  become,  to  quote  Lenin,  "a  handbook  for  every  class-coiisciuus 
worker."  Today,  sixty  years  since  these  words  were  written,  wherever  the  tight  for 
freedom  is  on  the  agenda,  the  Manifesto  is  a  manual  of  procedure  *   *   * 

In  France  and  Italy,  millions  of  workers,  farmers,  and  professional  people 
.■struggle  under  the  banner  of  Marxism,  held  aloft  by  the  giant  Communist  Parties. 

In  China,  millions,  fighting  for  a  free,  independent,  democratic  life,  are  inspired 
by  the  teachings  of  scientific  Communism.  In  the  people's  republics  of  Viet  Nam  and 
Indonesia  ;  in  Korea,  in  Africa,  in  the  Western  hemisphere,  the  principles  of  the 
Manifesto  are  being  studied  in  the  heat  of  struggle.  The  Greek  people,  resisting 
American  imperialist  oppression,  are  fortified  by  the  indestructible  ideas  of  the 
Manifesto  *   *   * 

The  greatest  verification  of  the  predictive  power  of  the  Manifesto  is  the  Union 
of  Socialist  Republics  *   *   * 

It  was  in  line  with  this  struggle  that  Lenin  and  Stalin  built  the  working  class 
party  of  a  new  type,  the  Bolshevik  Party.  It  was  by  fully  mastering  essence  and  the 
method  of  Marxism  that  Lenin  and  Stalin,  by  applying  its  teachings  to  the  specific 
world  conditions  and  the  conditions  of  Russia  in  1917,  led  the  masses  to  the  successful 
overthrow  of  Czarism  and  the  abolition  of  capitalism.  It  was  under  the  banner  of 
Marxism-Leninism  that  the  toilers  of  Russia,  having  established  the  Dictatorship  of 
the  Proletariat,  achieved  the  highest  form  of  democracy,  Socialist  democracy. 

As  late  as  September  1947,  on  the  occasion  of  the  one  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  writing  of  the  Communist  Manifesto,  William  Z. 
Foster,  present  chairman  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  reaffirmed 
his  fealty  to  the  founders  of  Communist  doctrine,  indicating  at  the 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  189 

POLITICAL  AFFAIRS  ^^— 

to       the       theory       and       practice       of       Marxism-Leninism 

EDITORIAL  BOARD 

V.  J.  JEROME,  Editor 

ABNER  W.  BERRY,  ALEXANDER  B1TTELMAN,  JACK  STACHEL,  MAX  WEISS 


VOLUME   XXVII,   NO. 


COTlte?ltS  DECEMBER,    1 948 


Greetings  to  the  Glorious  Communist  Party  of  China  C.P.U.S.A.  1046 

The  Main  Lessons  of  the  1948  Elections  Eugene  Dennis  1047 

The  New  War  Economy  James  S.  Allen  1055 

They  Must  Go  Free!  Elizabeth  Gurley  Flynn  1075 

The  Election  Results  in  New  York 

Netv  Yor\  State  Committee,  C.P.U.S.A.  1082 

Latin  America  Resists  Marshallization  Carlos  Rafael  Rodriguez  1088 

The  Soviet  15-Year  Plan  for  Agriculture  hem  Harris  1101 

Marxism  and  Science  N.  Spares  11 14 

BOOK  REVIEW: 

Cotton  Patch  Imperialism  and  Negro  Freedom  Abner  Berry  1129 

Index,  1948  1 137 


Re-entered  as  second  class  matter  January  4,  1945,  at  the  Post  Office  at  New  Yor\.  N.  Y.,  under 
the  Act  of  March  3,  1879.  POLITICAL  AFFAIRS  is  published  monthly  by  New  Century  Pub- 
lishers, Inc.,  at  832  Broadway,  New  Yor^  3,  N.  Y.,  to  whom  subscriptions,  payments  and 
correspondence  should  be  sent.  Subscription  rate:  $2.50  a  year;  fi.25  for  six  months;  foreign 
and  Canada,  $3.00  a  year.   Single  copies  25  cents. 

PRINTED  IN   U.S.A.  t^^R*»  ,0* 

Plate  1.  Exact  reproduction  of  the  title,  contents  and  indicia  of  the  December, 
1948,  issue  of  the  important  Communist  ideological  monthly  publication  in  the 
United  States,  Political  Affairs,  featuring  greetings  to  the  Chinese  Communists 
by  the  CPUSA,  and  an  article  on  "Marxism  and  Science"  by  Nemmy  Sparks, 
chairman  of  the  Los  Angeles  County  Communist  Party. 


190  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

same  time  that  the  Communist  Parties  of  other  countries  were  fundamen- 
tally the  same  in  their  loyalty.  He  declared  : 

As  the  Marxists-Leninists  of  the  world  celebrate  during;  this  year  the  100th 
anniversary  of  the  writing  of  the  Communist  Manifesto  by  Karl  Marx  and  Frederick 
Engels,  the  great  principles  of  social  development  laid  down  in  that  immortal  document 
are  bein?  dramatically  confirmed  by  the  course  of  history  and  by  the  present  state  of 
the  world. 

Foster  hails  "the  big  growth  of  Communist  Parties  in  various  coun- 
tries, and  the  rapid  development  of  Marxist-Leninist  ideology  among 
the  workers  of  the  world."  He  advises  the  leaders  of  labor  unions  and 
of  the  progressive  movement  "to  study  carefully  the  scientific  principles 
laid  down  by  Marx  and  Engels  a  century  ago  in  the  famous  Communist 
Manifesto." 

(Marxism  and  American  "Exceptionalism,"  by  William  Z.  Foster,  in  Politico1. 
Affairs,  September  1947,  p.  794.) 

In  preparation  for  Lenin  memorial  meetings  arranged  by  the  Com- 
munist Party,  U.  S.  A.,  throughout  the  country,  the  Worker  of  January 
18,  1948,  page  5  (magazine  section),  official  organ  of  the  party,  carried 
a  feature  article  entitled  "Lenin's  Legacy  Honored,"  from  which  we 
quote : 

Peoples  of  many  lands  during  the  past  and  coming  weeks  are  honoring  the  name 
and  achievements  of  Vladimir  Ilyitch  Ulyanov  (1870-1924),  the  great  Marxist  and 
revolutionary  statesman  who  under  the  popular  and  widely-known  name  of  Lenin. 
led  the  forces  which  established  Soviet  power  in  the  old  Russian  Empire  and  founded 
the  U.  S.  S.  R. 

Accordingly  memorial  meetings  are  occurring  during  this  period  in  the  principal 
cities  of  America. 

OFFICIAL  RED  READING  LIST 

In  the  November  1947  issue  of  Political  Affairs,  pages  1040-1046, 
"William  W.  Weinstone,  New  York  State  educational  director  of  the 
Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  laid  down  a  list  of  recommended  readings 
for  party  members  on  the  occasion  of  the  one  hundredth  anniversary 
of  Marxism,  which  establishes  still  further  the  current  adherence  of 
the  party  to  the  teachings  and  principles  of  Marx,  Engels,  Lenin,  and 
Stalin. 

Among  other  works  he  urges  the  reading  of  the  following :  Marx 
and  Engels'  Communist  Manifesto;  Engels'  Socialism;  Utopian  and 
Scientific;  Lenin's  State  and  the  Revolution;  Lenin's  Imperialism,  The 
Highest  Stage  of  Capitalism ;  Marx'  The  Eighteenth  Brumaire  of  Louis 
Bonaparte;  Marx'  Civil  War  in  France;  Stalin's  Foundations  of  Lenin- 
ism; Lenin's  The  Three  Sources  and  Component  Parts  of  Marxism; 
Lenin's  Karl  Marx ;  Kherzentsev 's  Life  of  Lenin;  Kherzentsev 's  Life  of 
Stalin;  Engels'  Anti-Duhring ;  Engels'  Origin  of  the  Family,  Private 
Property,  and  the  State;  Engels'  Peasant  War  in  Germany;  Lenin's 
What  Is  to  Be  Done;  Lenin's  Collapse  of  the  Second  International; 
Lenin's  Left-Wing  Communism;  Stalin's  Leninism;  Stalin's  Marxism 
and  the  National  Question;  Engels'  Ludwig  F encroach;  Karl  Marx' 
Selected  Works;  Marx'  Wage-Labor  and  Capital,  also  Value,  Price,  and 
Profit,  and  also  Volume  I  of  Capital;  N.  Krupskaya's  Memories  of 
Lenin ;  Plekhanov  's  Fundamentals  of  Marxism ;  Mehring  's  Karl  Marx. 

New  Century  Publishers  is  an  official  Communist  Party  publishing 
house,  which  has  published  the  works  of  William  Z.  Foster  and  Eugene 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  191 

Dennis,  Communist  Party  chairman  and  executive  secretary,  respec- 
tively, as  well  as  the  theoretical  magazine  of  the  party  known  as  Political 
Affairs  and  the  Constitution  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.  In  its 
latest  catalog,  the  following  works  by  or  about  Marx,  Engels,  Lenin, 
and  Stalin  are  offered  for  sale: 

Marx  and  the  Trade  Unions,  by  S.  A.  Losovsky. 

History  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  by  Joseph  Stalin  and 
others. 

History  of  the  Russian  Revolution,  by  Stalin  and  others. 

The  Russian  Revolution,  by  Vladimir  Lenin  and  Joseph  Stalin. 

The  Road  to  Power,  by  Joseph  Stalin. 

Fundamental  Problems  of  Marxism,  by  George  Plekhanov. 

Handbook  of  Marxism,  by  Emile  Burns,  major  selections  from  Marx,  Engels, 
Lenin,  and  Stalin. 

"What  Is  Leninism? 

Theory  of  the  Dictatorship  of  the  Proletariat,  by  Lenin. 

Theory  of  the  Proletarian  Revolution,  by  Lenin. 

Strategy  and  Tactics  of  the  Proletarian  Revolution,  by  Lenin. 

Marxism,  Leninism  Versus  Revisionism,  by  William  Z.  Foster. 

History  of  the  Communist  Manifesto,  by  V.  Adoratsky. 

Marx,  Engels,  and  Lenin  on  Ireland,  by  Ralph  Fox. 

Marxism  and  Modern  Art.  by  F.  M.  Klingender. 

Marxism  and  Modern  Idealism,  by  John  Lewis. 

Mastering  Bolshevism,  by  Joseph  Stalin. 

Marxism  Versus  Liberalism,  by  Joseph  Stalin. 

Lenin  on  the  Agrarian  Question,  by  Anna  Rochester. 

Marxism  Economic  Handbook  and  Glossary,  by  W.  H.  Emmett. 

New  Data  for  Lenin's  Imperialism,  by  E.  Varga  and  L.  Mendelsohn. 

Marx  as  an  Economist,  by  Maurice  Dobb. 

Value,  Price,  and  Profit,  by  Karl  Marx. 

Wage-Labor  and  Capital,  by  Karl  Marx. 

Capital,  volume  I,  by  Karl  Marx. 

The  Civil  War  in  France,  by  Karl  Marx. 

Class  Struggles  in  France,  by  Karl  Marx. 

Critique  of  the  Gotha  Programme,  by  Karl  Marx. 

The  Eighteenth  Brumaire  of  Louis  Bonaparte,  by  Karl  Marx. 

Founding  of  the  First  International,  documents  of  Marx  and  others. 

Letters  to  Kugelmann,  by  Karl  Marx. 

The  Poverty  of  Philosophy,  by  Karl  Marx. 

Selected  Works  of  Karl  Marx. 

Origin  of  the  Family,  Private  Property,  and  the  State,  by  Frederick  Engels. 

Anti-Duhring,  by  Frederick  Engels. 

Condition  of  the  Working  Class  in  England  in  1844,  by  Frederick  Engels. 

Dialectics  of  Nature,  by  Frederick  Engels. 

Engels  on  Capital. 

The  Housing  Question,  by  Frederick  Engels. 

Ludwig  Feuerbach,  by  Frederick  Engels. 

The  Peasant  War  in  Germany,  by  Frederick  Engels. 

Socialism:  Utopian  and  Scientific,  by  Frederick  Engels. 

The  Civil  War  in  the  United  States,  by  Karl  Marx  and  Frederick  Engels. 

Correspondence  of  Karl  Marx  and  Frederick  Engels. 

The  German  Ideology,  by  Karl  Marx  and  Frederick  Engels. 

The  Manifesto  of  the  Communist  Party,  by  Karl  Marx  and  Frederick  Engels. 

Marx  and  Engels  on  Reactionary  Prussianism. 

Revolution  in  Spain,  by  Karl  Marx  and  Frederick  Engels. 

WORKS  OF  VLADIMIIi  LENIN 

The  Prerequisites  of  the  First  Russian  Revolution   (1S94-99). 

The  Struggle  for  the  Bolshevik  Parly  (1900-1904). 

The  Revolution  of  1905-07. 

The  Years  of  Reaction  and  the  New  Revival  (190S-14). 

Imperialism  and  the  Imperialist  War  (1914-17). 

From  the  Bourgeois  to  the  Proletarian  Revolution  (1917). 


192  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

After  the  Seizure  of  Power  (1917-18). 

The  Period  of  War  Communism  (1918-20) . 

The  New  Economic  Policy  :  Socialist  Construction  (1921-23). 

The  Communist  International   (please  note  that  this  work  is  sold  3  years  or 

more  after  the  alleged  dissolution  of  the  Communist  International). 
The  Theoretical  Principles  of  Marxism. 
Theory  of  the  Agrarian  Question. 
The  Iskra  Period. 

Materialism  and  Empirio-Criticism. 
The  Imperialist  War. 
The  Revolution  of  1917. 
Toward  the  Seizure  of  Power. 
From  1916  to  March  1917. 
From  Spring  1918  to  Spring  1919. 
Imperialism — the  Highest  Stage  of  Capitalism. 
"Left- Wing"  Communism :  An  Infantile  Disorder. 
Marx-Engels  Marxism. 

The  Proletarian  Revolution  and  the  Renegade  Kautsky. 
The  State  and  the  Revolution. 

Two  Tactics  of  Social  Democracy  in  the  Democratic  Revolution. 
What  Is  To  Be  Done? 
Lenin  on  Engels. 
Lenin  on  the  State. 

Lenin  on  the  Woman  Question,  by  Clara  Zetkin. 
A  Letter  to  American  Workers. 
The  Teachings  of  Karl  Marx. 
The  War  and  the  Second  International. 
Paris  Commune. 
Religion. 

Letters  From  Afar. 

Tasks  of  the  Proletariat  in  Our  Revolution. 
April  Conference. 

The  Threatening  Catastrophe  and  How  To  Fight  It. 
Will  the  Bolsheviks  Retain  State  Power? 
On  the  Eve  of  October. 
Lenin — Three  Speeches  by  Joseph  Stalin. 
Foundations  of  Leninism,  by  Joseph  Stalin. 
Problems  of  Leninism,  by  Joseph  Stalin. 
Woman  and  Society. 
War  and  the  Workers. 
The  Young  Generation. 
Marxism  and  Revisionism,  by  V.  I.  Lenin  and  Joseph  Stalin. 

WORKS  OF  JOSEPH  STALIN 

Dialectical  and  Historical  Materialism. 

Marxism  and  the  National  and  Colonial  Question. 

Marxism  and  the  National  Question. 

The  October  Revolution. 

Selected  Writings. 

Stalin's  Early  Writings  and  Activities,  by  L.  Beria. 

The  War  of  National  Liberation. 

In  Praise  of  Learning,  by  Joseph  Stalin  and  V.  M.  Molotov. 

Interview  With  Foreign  Workers'  Delegations. 

From  Socialism  to  Communism  in  the  Soviet  Union. 

The  Lenin  Heritage. 

The  Soviets  and  the  Individual. 

The  Stalin-Howard  Interview. 

Stalin  on  the  New  Constitution 

To  the  Collective  Farm  Shock-Brigade  Workers 

MISCELLANEOUS 

Life  and  Teachings  of  V.  I.  Lenin,  by  R.  Palme  Dutt 
Life  of  Lenin,  by  P.  Kerzhentzev 
Our  Lenin,  by  Ruth  Shaw  and  H.  A.  Potamkin 
Reminiscences  of  Lenin,  by  Clara  Zetkin 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  193 

Stalin,  by  V.  M.  Molotov,  K.  Voroshilov,  and  others 

Vladimir  Lenin,  a  Political  Biography 

Karl  Marx,  His  Life  and  Work,  by  Paul  Lafargue  and  Wilhelm  Liebknecht 

Lenin  and  Krupskaya,  by  C.  Bobrovskaya 

This  devotion  to  the  precepts  of  Marx,  Engels,  Lenin,  and  Stalin 
is  no  accident,  nor  the  whim  of  some  leader  or  faction  of  the  Communist 
Party,  U.  S.  A.,  but  rather  part  of  an  international  policy  emanating- 
from  Moscow.  It  is  demonstrated  by  the  following  description  of  the 
training  of  Communist  Party  and  Soviet  personnel,  from  an  official  report 
of  G.  Malenkov  representing  the  Central  Committee  of  the  Communist 
Party  of  the  Soviet  Union  before  the  Conference  of  Communist  Parties 
held  in  September  1947  in  Poland : 

The  training  and  perfection  of  Party  and  Soviet  personnel  is  one  of  the  vital 
problems  on  the  solution  of  which  the  Party  is  now  working.  This  training  is  aimed 
at  helping  millions  of  Party  and  administrative  workers  to  master  Marxist-Leninist 
science. 

In  addition  over  90  million  copies  of  Marxist-Leninist  classical  works  have  been 
published  since  the  end  of  the  war. 

That  the  doctrines  expounded  in  the  Communist  Manifesto  are  held 
in  highest  regard  by  the  Communist  Parties  of  the  world  is  indicated 
by  a  statement  appearing  in  the  official  organ  of  the  Cominform,  suc- 
cessor to  the  Communist  International,  as  follows : 

The  working  class  and  the  Communist  Parties  of  the  world  are  celebrating  a 
notable  date — the  centenary  of  the  Communist  Manifesto  of  Marx  and  Engels.  *  *  * 
The  Communist  Manifesto  is  one  of  the  great  landmarks  of  the  working  class  struggle 
for  liberation  from  the  yoke  of  capitalism  *  *  *  Lenin  and  Stalin  are  the  direct 
successors  and  inheritors  of  the  ideological  treasure  of  Marx  and  Engels.  Thus,  the 
practical  experience  of  a  number  of  countries  has  also  vindicated  the  vitality  of  the 
Manifesto  and  the  brilliant  genius  of  Marx  and  Engels  who  founded  the  theory  of 
scientific  Communism,  and  who  equipped  the  working  class  of  the  world  with  a  mighty 
and  invincible  doctrine.  (Centenary  of  the  Communist  Manifesto,  by  P.  Yudin  in  For 
a  Lasting  Peace,  For  a  People's  Democracy,  February  15,  1948,  p.  2,  Organ  of  the 
Information  Bureau  of  the  Communist  Parties,  published  in  Belgrade.) 

Thus  the  doctrines  of  Marx,  Engels,  Lenin,  and  Stalin  have  consti- 
tuted the  very  basis  upon  which  the  Communist  movement  was  founded 
throughout  the  world,  the  very  basis  upon  which  it  operates  at  the  present 
time.  Advocacy  of  overthrow  of  government  by  force  and  violence  is  an 
organic  and  inescapable  part  of  these  doctrines. 

III.  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  of  America 
The  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States,  known  also  at  various 
times  as  the  Communist  Party  of  America,  the  Communist  Labor  Party 
of  America,  the  United  Communist  Party  of  America,  the  Workers  Party 
of  America,  the  Workers  (Communist)  Party  of  America,  and  the  Com- 
munist Political  Association,  has  clearly  espoused  resort  to  force  and 
violence,  in  its  official  publications  or  through  official  spokesmen. 

The  fact  that  there  are  no  recent  direct  statements  along  this  line 
from  official  American  Communist  sources  is  due  to  its  present  policy 
of  evading  domestic  laws  which  prohibit  such  advocacy.  The  party  has, 
therefore,  limited  itself  to  advocacy  and  training  within  its  own  nearest 
circles  through  official  literature  and  schools.  Since  the  Communist  move- 
ment relies  upon  coup  d'etat  methods  effected  by  a  trained  minority,  as 
has  been  demonstrated  recently  in  various  countries,  such  limited  espousal 


194  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

suits  its  purposes  much  more  effectively  than  any  direct  and  public  avowal 
of  its  violent  aims. 

Ample  evidence  exists  to  show  that  the  American  Communist  Party 
is  basically  attached  to  the  advocacy  of  overthrow  of  government  by 
force  and  violence,  from  its  own  documents  cited  herein.  The  constitution 
and  program  of  the  Communist  Party  of  America  stated  in  1921 : 

Armed  Insurrection.  Open  Armed  Conflict  With  State 

The  World  War  marks  an  epoch — the  epoch  of  the  collapse  of  capitalism  and  the 
beginning  of  the  proletarian  revolution.  With  the  disintegration  of  imperialism  come 
uprisings  among  the  exploited  masses  in  the  colonies  and  in  the  small  independent 
nations.  The  imperialist  armies  disintegrate.  The  ruling  classes  are  unmasked  and 
their  incapacity  to  further  direct  the  destiny  of  the  world's  working  masses  is  exposed. 
Armed  insurrection  of  the  proletariat,  resulting  in  victorious  revolution,  as  in  Russia ; 
and  a  series  of  open  armed  conflicts  with  the  state  power  of  the  bourgeoisie,  as  in 
Germany.  This  is  typical  of  the  conditions  throughout  the  world.  (Constitution  and 
Program  of  the  Communist  Party  of  America.  Adopted  by  the  Joint  Unity  Convention 
of  the  Communist  Party  and  the  United  Communist  Party  of  America.  Published  by 
the  Communist  Party  of  America,  1921,  pp.  6,  7.) 

1.  The  original  Communist  Party  of  America,  acknowledged  pred- 
ecessor of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  of  America,  openly 
advocated  armed  insurrection,  civil  war,  and  violent  revolution. 

Armed  Insurrection  and  Civil  War 

The  revolutionary  epoch  upon  which  the  world  has  now  entered  forces  the  prole- 
tariat to  resort  to  militant  methods — mass  action,  leading  to  direct  collision  with  the 
bourgeois  state.  Mass  action  culminates  in  armed  insurrection  and  civil  war.  The 
centralized  power  of  the  capitalist  class  manifests  itself  through  control  of  the  state 
machinery — the  army,  the  navy,  police,  courts,  bureaucracy,  etc.  It  is  through  such 
means  that  the  capitalist  class  imposes  its  will  upon  the  workers.  Mass  action  is  the 
proletarian  revolt  against  the  oppression  of  the  capitalist  class.  It  develops  from 
spontaneous  activities  of  the  workers  massed  in  large  industries.  Among  its  initial 
manifestations  are  mass  strikes  and  mass  demonstrations.   *   *   * 

Clash  of  Armed  Forces.  Armed  Insurrection.  Violent  Revolution 

The  Communist  Party  will  educate  and  organize  the  working  masses  for  such 
direct  political  action,  i.e.,  mass  strikes  and  mass  demonstrations,  and  will  lead  them  in 
these  struggles.  These  struggles  form  the  major  campaign  of  the  Communist  Party. 
It  is  through  such  struggles  that  the  working  masses  are  prepared  for  the  final  conflict 
for  power.  This  can  be  nothing  else  but  a  direct  struggle  between  the  armed  forces  of 
the  capitalist  state  on  the  one  hand  and  the  armed  forces  of  the  proletarian  revolution 
on  the  other.  In  these  mass  strikes  and  demonstrations  large  masses  of  workers  are 
united.  New  tactics  and  a  new  ideology  are  developed.  As  these  strikes  grow  in  number 
and  intensity,  they  acquire  political  character  through  unavoidable  collision  and  open 
combat  with  the  capitalist  state  which  openly  employs  all  its  machinery  to  break  their 
strikes  and  crush  the  workers  'organizations.  This  finally  results  in  armed  insurrection 
aimed  directly  at  the  destruction  of  the  capitalist  state  and  the  establishment  of  the 
proletarian  dictatorship.  This  objective  cannot  be  attained  unless  the  entire  movement 
is  under  the  control  and  guidance  of  the  Communist  Party. 

The  Communist  Party  will  keep  in  the  foreground  the  idea  of  the  necessity  of 
violent  revolution  for  the  destruction  of  the  capitalist  state  and  the  establishment  of 
the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  based  on  Soviet  power.   (Hid.,  pp.  18,  19,  and  20.) 

2.  It  derided  the  efficacy  of  parliamentary  or  legal  means  and 
declared  that  the  American  state  machinery  should  be  destroyed. 

Destroy  Bourgeois  State 

The  bourgeois  parliament,  one  of  the  most  important  instruments  of  the  bour- 
geois state  machinery,  can  no  more  be  won  by  the  proletariat  than  the  bourgeois  order 
in  general.  It  is  the  task  of  the  proletariat  to  destroy  the  entire  machinery  of  the  bour- 
geois state,  not  excluding  its  parliamentary  institutions.  (Ibid.,  p.  21.) 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  195 

3.  It  supported  the  Communist  International  in  its  advocacy  of  the 
use  of  force  to  create  an  International  Soviet  Republic. 

Force  of  Arms 

The  Communist  International.  In  order  to  overthrow  the  international  bour- 
geoisie and  to  create  an  International  Soviet  Republic  as  a  transition  stage  to  the 
Communist  Society,  the  Communist  International  will  use  all  means  at  its  disposal, 
including  force  of  arms.  (Ibid.,  p.  39.) 

4.  The  Communist  Party  of  America  declared  openly  that  our  sys- 
tem can  be  destroyed  only  by  force. 

Abolition  of  Capitalism  by  Force 

We  know  very  well  that  capitalism  cannot  be  abolished  without  the  use  of  force. 

The  capitalist  magnates  will  hand  over  power  to  the  workers  only  as  willingly 
and  as  peaceably  as  the  British  Crown  and  Feudal  Forces  handed  it  over  to  the  Amer- 
ican bourgeoisie  in  1776,  and  as  peacefully  and  as  willingly  as  the  Southern  slave- 
owners freed  their  Negro  slaves  in  the  Civil  War. 

Indeed  we  openly  proclaim  that  the  industrial  and  agricultural  workers,  who, 
being  the  vast  majority  of  the  population  of  this  country,  have  a  right  to  establish 
their  own  rule,  with  force  if  need  be,  against  the  rule  of  the  small  group  of  trust  mag- 
nates and  capitalists  generally.  (The  Worker,  Saturday,  September  16,  1922,  p.  4. 
Excerpt  from  Manifesto  of  the  Communist  Party  of  America.) 

5.  The  Communist  Party  of  America  reprinted  the  official  position 
of  the  Third  Congress  of  the  Comintern  as  its  own. 

Armed  Force 

The  official  position  of  the  Communist  International  as  adopted  at  its  Third 
Congress,  held  June  22-July  12.  1921,  is  as  follows : 

With  regard  to  acts  of  AVhite  Terror  and  the  fury  of  bourgeois  justice,  the  Com- 
munist Party  must  warn  the  workers  not  be  deceived,  during  crises,  by  an  enemy 
appeal  to  their  leniency,  but  to  demonstrate  proletarian  morality  by  acts  of  proletarian 
justice,  in  settling  with  the  oppressors  of  the  workers. 

But  in  times  when  the  workers  are  only  preparing  themselves,  when  they  have 
to  be  mobilized  by  agitation,  political  campaigns  and  strikes,  armed  force  may  be  used 
solely  to  defend  the  masses  from  bourgeois  outrages. 

Individual  acts  of  terrorism,  however  they  may  demonstrate  the  revolutionary 
rancor  of  the  masses,  however  justified  they  may  be  as  acts  of  retribution  against  the 
lynch  law  of  the  bourgeoisie  and  its  social  democratic  flunkeys,  are  in  no  way  apt  to 
raise  the  workers  to  a  higher  level  of  organization,  or  make  them  better  prepared  to 
face  the  struggle. 

We  publish  this  statement  for  the  benefit  of  our  readers.  The  capitalist  press  will 
not  publish  it  the  next  time  they  launch  an  attack  on  the  Communist  movement.  We 
do  not  expect  the  hell  hounds  of  the  system,  commonly  known  as  secret  service  opei-a- 
tives,  to  have  brains  enough  to  understand  it.  But  the  workers  will  learn  and  act 
accordingly.  (The  Worker,  New  York,  March  18,  1922,  p.  6.  From  an  editorial  entitled 
"Individual  Acts  of  Terrorism.") 

6.  In  the  Michigan  cases  in  1923  in  which  the  leaders  of  the  Ameri- 
can Communist  Party  were  on  trial,  they  defended  the  use  of  force. 

Necessity  of  Force  and  Violence 

The  Defense  does  not  contend  that  the  Communists  say  that  the  workers  can 
achieve  power  and  dominate  the  government  as  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat, 
without  the  use  of  force,  either  in  achieving  power  or  in  protecting  their  rule  after  it  is 
established.  The  Communist  viewpoint  that  great  historical  changes  have  never  come 
without  a  resort  to  force  is  boldly  avowed,  but  is  declared  that  this  use  of  force  must 
resolve  out  of  the  social  and  economic  conditions,  that  Communists  are  not  bomb 
throwers  nor  do  they  incite  the  workers  to  isolated  acts  of  violence.  (The  Worker,  New 
York,  Saturday,  April  7,  1923,  p.  2.  From  an  article  entitled  "Communist  Principles 
on  Trial  In  Person  of  Foster  in  Michigan.") 


196  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

7.  The  American  Communist  Party  has  even  asserted  its  right  to 
openly  advocate  the  use  of  force  and  violence. 

Resort  to  Force 

The  evidence  brought  before  the  jury  in  the  form  of  the  official  documents  of  the 
Communist  Party  frankly  stated  in  Communist  viewpoint  that  the  class  struggle  inev- 
itably develops  into  an  open  struggle  between  contending  classes  and  that  the  ultimate 
phase  of  the  struggle  between  workers  and  capitalists  would  involve  a  resort  to 
force.  *  *  * 

What  the  Communists  have  done,  and  what  they  insist  is  their  right,  is  to  express 
their  view,  based  upon  historical  precedents,  that  no  privileged  class  has  ever  given  up 
its  power  without  a  resort  to  force  and  that  the  class  struggle  between  workers  and 
capitalists  will  follow  this  historic  precedent.  (The  Worker,  New  York,  Saturday, 
April  21,  1923,  p.  1.  From  an  article  entitled  "Foster  Verdict  Triumph  for  Communism 
in  United  States,"  by  C.  E.  Ruthenberg.) 

8.  The  Daily  Worker,  official  Communist  organ  in  the  United  States 
has  unreservedly  espoused  civil  war  between  classes  of  society. 

Oppose  Social  Peace.  Civil  War 

But  this  social  peace  means  above  all,  to  deliver  the  working  class  helpless  into 
imperialist  war.  Nothing  can  stop  the  slaughter  of  the  wars  of  capitalism  except  the 
class  war  of  the  workers  for  the  overthrow  of  capitalist  government  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  workers'  government.  The  cry  of  the  imperialist  for  war  between 
nations  can  only  be  answered  by  the  cry  of  the  workers  for  the  war  between  the 
classes.  The  imperialist  war  must  be  turned  into  the  civil  war  through  which  the 
power  of  the  exploiting  class  shall  be  broken.  (Daily  Worker,  Chicago,  July  5,  1924, 
p.  6 ;  J.  Louis  Engdahl  and  William  F.  Dunne,  editors.  Excerpt  from  an  editorial 
entitled  "Against  Imperialist  War.") 

9.  The  Workers  Monthly,  official  Communist  monthly  organ, 
acknowledged  the  fact  that  the  American  party  was  formed  in  recog- 
nition of  the  historical  example  set  by  the  Russian  Communist  Party  in 
conducting  an  armed  uprising. 

Armed  Uprising 

The  Communist  Party  came  into  existence  in  the  United  States,  as  elsewhere 
in  response  to  the  ferment  caused  in  the  Socialist  parties  by  the  Russian  Revolution. 
It  was  the  historical  example,  that  is,  the  establishment  of  a  proletarian  state 
through  an  armed  uprising  of  the  working  masses,  the  sweeping  away  of  the  old 
parliamentary  form  of  government,  the  establishment  of  the  new  workers'  government 
upon  the  foundation  of  the  Soviets,  that  drove  into  the  Socialist  parties  the  wedge 
which  split  them  into  two  sharply  defined  groups ;  those  who  pretended  they  could 
achieve  a  Socialist  society  through  forms  wrung  from  the  capitalist  state  and  those 
who  saw  the  only  road  to  Socialism,  the  overthrow  of  the  capitalist  state  and  the 
establishment  of  the  proletarian  state,  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat.  *  *  * 

The  party  was  attacked  because  it  taught  the  workers  that  they  could  emanci- 
pate themselves  from  capitalism  only  through  an  armed  uprising  which  would  over- 
throw the  capitalist  state  and  establish  a  Soviet  government.  After  it  was  driven 
underground  the  party  considered  it  all  the  more  its  duty  to  continue  this  propaganda. 
{The  Workers  Monthly,  Chicago,  October  1925,  vol.  IV,  No.  12,  p.  531.) 

10.  Questioned  by  New  York  Aldermanic  President  McKee,  Wil- 
liam Z.  Foster,  present  chairman  of  the  Communist  Party,  TJ.  8.  A., 
frankly  admitted  that  his  organization  teaches  the  workers  that  only  by 
force  and  violence  can  the  revolution  be  achieved. 

Revolution  by  Violence 

You  cannot  cure  unemployment  except  by  the  overthrow  of  capitalism  and  the 
establishment  of  a  Soviet  Government  in  the  United  States.  We  explain  to  the  work- 
ers and  we  teach  all  the  workers  that  only  by  violence  finally  can  a  revolution  be 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  197 

accomplished.  All  revolutions  have  been  accomplished  by  force  and  violence.  (State- 
ment by  William  Z.  Foster,  present  chairman  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United 
States,  before  Aldermanic  President  McKee,  Daily  Worker,  New  York,  March  15, 
1930,  p.  5.) 

11.  Robert  Minor,  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  and  a  delegate  to  the  Com- 
munist International,  made  a  similar  public  admission. 

Violence 

*  *  *  the  Communist  Party  is  the  party  of  the  working  class,  leading  the  work- 
ers in  the  class  struggle  and  recognizing  that  all  of  history  is  made  up  of  this  struggle 
which  has  never  been  solved  and  never  can  be  solved  without  violence.  It  is  not  a 
question  of  violence  or  no  violence.  It  is  a  question  of  which  class.  ( Speech  by  Robert 
Minor  before  Mayor  James  J.  Walker,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  Daily  Worker,  New  York, 
March  15, 1930,  p.  5.) 

12.  The  Seventh  National  Convention  of  the  Communist  Party, 
U.  S.  A.,  in  1930,  endorsed  Lenin's  demand  to  turn  "imperialist  war" 
into  civil  war. 

Civil  War 

In  view  of  this  growing  danger  of  war,  the  Communist  Party  must  carry  thru 
an  intensive  and  continuous  campaign  for  the  popularization  of  Lenin's  teachings  on 
the  struggle  against  war,  propagating  the  slogan  of  the  transformation  of  imperialist 
war  into  civil  war,  the  defeat  of  "our  own"  capitalist  government,  for  the  overthrow 
of  "our  own"  bourgeoise.  (Thesis  and  Resolutions  for  the  Seventh  National  Conven- 
tion of  the  Communist  Party  of  U.  S.  A.,  by  Central  Committee  Plenum,  March  21- 
April  4,  1930.) 

13.  Before  the  House  Special  Committee  to  Investigate  Communist 
Activities  in  the  United  States  on  December  5,  1930,  William  Z.  Foster 
declared  under  oath  that  armed  struggle  was  necessary  for  the  Socialist 
revolution. 

Armed  Struggle 

Only  an  armed  struggle  succeeded  in  eliminating  the  institution  of  chattel 
slavery.  The  same  law  of  history  will  operate  in  the  transition  from  capitalism  to 
Socialism.  (Statement  drafted  by  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  and  pre- 
sented to  Fish  committee  by  William  Z.  Foster,  present  chairman,  Communist  Party, 
U.  S.  A.,  December  5,  1930.  Workers  Library  Publishers,  New  York,  p.  31.) 

William  F.  Dunne,  former  member  of  the  executive  committee  of 
the  Communist  Party,  V.  S.  A.,  delegate  to  the  Comintern  and  former 
editor  of  the  Daily  Worker,  denounced  those  who  believe  in  the  possi- 
bility of  an  orderly  revolution. 

Against  Orderly  Revolution 

No  "Orderly  Revolution."  There  never  has  been  and  there  never  can  he  :iu 
orderly  revolution.  "Orderly  Revolution"  means  no  revolution.  The  whole  inter- 
national experience  of  the  working  class,  immeasurably  enriched  by  the  Russian 
Revolution,  proves  this  beyond  question.  (Daily  Worker,  November  7,  1032,  p.  (1 ; 
excerpt  from  an  article  entitled  "Why  Thomas  Is  Being  Boosted  by  Republican, 
Democrat  Press,"  by  Bill  Dunne.) 

14.  The  following  statements  advocating  the  use  of  force  and  vio- 
lence for  the  revolutionary  overthrow  of  American  capitalism  arc  par- 
ticularly significant  because  of  the  official  position  now  held  by  the  author, 
William  Z.  Foster,  as  chairman  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.  Tin  y 
are  excerpts  from  his  book,  Toward  Soviet  America. 


198  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA 

Civil  War.  Force 

The  revolutionary  danger  to  the  capitalist  system  from  the  developing  war 
situation  is  acute  and  menacing.  If  and  when  the  imperialist  powers  launch  a  great 
war  among  themselves  we  may  be  sure  that  in  many  countries  the  workers  and 
peasants,  following  the  famous  strategy  of  Lenin  and  under  the  leadership  of  the 
Communist  International,  will  transform  the  imperialist  war  into  a  civil  war  against 
the  capitalist  system.  *   *   * 

The  road  to  this  social  development  can  only  be  opened  by  revolution.  This  is 
because  the  question  of  power  is  involved.  The  capitalist  class  like  an  insatiable  blood- 
sucker, hangs  to  the  body  of  the  toiling  masses  and  can  be  dislodged  only  by  force. 

Proletariat  in  Arms.  Civil  War.  Force.  Armed  Red  Guard 

By  the  term  "abolition"  of  capitalism  we  mean  its  overthrow  in  open  struggle 
by  the  toiling  masses,  led  by  the  proletariat.  Although  the  world  capitalist  system 
constantly  plunges  deeper  into  crisis  we  cannot  therefore  conclude  that  it  will  collapse 
of  its  own  weight.  On  the  contrary,  as  Lenin  has  stated,  no  matter  how  difficult  the 
capitalist  crisis  becomes,  "there  is  no  complete  absence  of  a  way  out"  for  the  bourgeoisie 
until  it  faces  the  revolutionary  proletariat  in  arms.  *   *   * 

Nevertheless,  the  working  class  cannot  itself  come  into  power  without  civil  war. 
This  is  not  due  to  the  choice  of  the  toilers  ;  it  is  because  the  ruling  class  will  never 
permit  itself  to  be  ousted  without  such  a  fight.  "Force,"  says  Marx,  "is  the  midwife 
of  every  old  society  when  it  is  pregnant  with  the  new  one ;  force  is  the  instrument  and 
the  means  by  which  social  movements  hack  their  way  through  and  break  up  the  fos- 
silized political  forms  *   *   *." 

When  the  American  working  class  actively  enters  the  revolutionary  path  of 
abolishing  capitalism  it  will  orientate  upon  the  building  of  Soviets,  not  upon  the 
adaptation  of  the  existing  capitalist  government.  The  building  of  Soviets  is  begun  not 
after  the  revolution  but  before.  The  decisions  of  the  Soviets  are  enforced  by  the  armed 
Red  Guard  of  the  workers  and  peasants  and  by  the  direct  seizure  of  the  industry 
through  factory  committees.  *   *   * 

In  order  to  defeat  the  class  enemies  of  the  revolution  the  counter-revolutionary 
intrigues  within  the  United  States  and  the  attacks  of  foreign  capitalist  countries  from 
without,  the  proletarian  dictatorship  must  be  supported  by  the  organized  armed  might 
of  the  workers,  soldiers,  local  militia,  etc.  In  the  early  stages  of  the  revolution  even 
before  the  seizure  of  power,  the  workers  will  organize  the  Red  Guard.  Later  on  this 
loosely  constructed  body  becomes  developed  into  a  firmly-knit  well-disciplined  Red 
Army.  {Toward  Soviet  America,  by  William  Z.  Foster  (Coward-McCann,  New  York, 
1932),  pp.  64,  130,  212,  214,  271,  and  275.) 

15.  In  1934  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  was  still  making  no 
bones  about  its  advocacy  of  the  need  of  an  armed  uprising  and  civil  war. 

Civil  War 

But  along  with  the  growth  of  revolutionary  mass  actions,  such  as  demonstrations, 
strikes  in  basic  industries,  munitions  works,  waterside,  rail  transport,  etc.,  the  general 
strike — as  the  supreme  form  of  the  mass  strike  movement — can  be  a  mighty  weapon, 
and  "as  a  transition  to  the  armed  uprising  it  constitutes  a  stage  in  the  transformation 
of  the  imperialist  war  into  civil  war."  {The  Communist,  a  magazine  of  the  theory  and 
practice  of  Marxism-Leninism,  published  monthly  by  the  Communist  Party  of  the 
United  States  of  America ;  August,  1934,  vol.  XIII,  No.  8,  p.  799.  An  excerpt  from  an 
article  entitled  "The  Leninist  Party  as  Leader  of  the  Struggle  Against  Imperialist 
War,"  by  H.  M.  Wicks.) 

16.  Many  American  Communist  leaders  were  given  special  train- 
ing in  Moscow  to  prepare  them  for  the  practical  application  of  these 
theories  of  force  and  violence.  William  Odell  Nowell,  a  former  Commu- 
nist Party  leader  in  Detroit,  who  studied  at  the  International  Lenin 
University  in  Moscow  under  this  training  program  for  more  than  a  year 
in  1931-1932,  described  the  procedure  for  the  Special  Committee  on 
Un-American  Activities.  He  said  that  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United 
States  and  the  Soviet  Government  paid  his  expenses  as  a  student  in  this 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN  CALIFORNIA  199 

training  program,  ivhich  he  stated  was  aimed  at  the  production  of  "pro- 
fessional revolutionaries."  His  account  of  the  training  follows: 

Barricade  Fighting.  Military  Science.  Sabotage 

We  studied  how  to  dismantle  the  weapons  of  the  leading  countries,  that  is,  their 
main  weapons,  such  as  rifles  or  machine  guns  and  so  on.  I  also  studied  secret  service 
codes  *  *  *  we  studied  the  details  of  how  to  develop  street  fights.  I  mean,  how  to  do 
barricade  fighting,  how  to  seize  control  of  a  city,  the  most  strategic,  economically  and 
technically  strategic  points,  and  so  on.  *   *   * 

*  *  *  the  science  of  civil  warfare  was  developed  down  to  its  fine  points.  And  a 
number  of  people  were  sent  to  the  Red  Army  to  secure  further  training  in  this  respect. 
*   *   *   I  spent  some  time  in  the  Red  Army  myself.  *   *   * 

We  were  given  regular  military  training.  That  is,  we  studied  military  science, 
strategy,  such  as  is  general  in  almost  all  countries.  The  strategy  is  pretty  much  the 
same,  except  in  countries  of  different  geographical  situations,  and  so  on.  We  had  target 
practice  and  all  that.  Then  we  were  taught  what  is  called  partisan  warfare,  the  science 
of  civil  warfare,  revolutionary  uprising.  It  is  not  done  legitimately  and  openly.  You 
don't  march  in  brigades  and  fight  like  armies  that  are  meeting  each  other. 

The  conspiratory  type  of  warfare.  It  is  related  to  the  boring-in  process,  street 
fighting,  and  how  to  mobile  (sic)  in  blocks,  the  blocks  in  a  city,  the  workers  in  a  plant ; 
how  to  develop  a  general  strike  out  of  a  local  strike  ;  how  to  develop  a  general  strike 
into  a  city  uprising,  a  city  uprising  into  a  national  uprising,  coordinating  all  these 
different  uprisings.  Then  how  to  lead  this  thing,  once  it  is  raised,  once  these  men  are  on 
the  warpath,  how  to  direct  them.  Then  we  come  to  something  like  open  warfare.  We 
break  these  people  down  into  groups  ;  we  make  armies  on  the  basis  of  the  immediate 
emergency  of  the  moment,  or  whatever  the  situation  may  be.  We  were  given  to  know 
that  in  a  revolutionary  situation  you  cannot  follow  out  mechanically  any  particular 
plan,  only  your  objective.  It  is  a  tense  situation.  Therefore  a  party  having  an  organiza- 
tion, with  its  fingers  on  everything — every  portion  of  the  city  and  its  population,  that 
ir  can  depend  on — is  prepared  to  direct  all  its  forces  in  the  way  they  should  be. 

[We  were  taught  to  concentrate  on]  the  food  supply,  the  warehouses,  the  utilities, 
that  is  water  and  lights,  gas,  and  all  those  things ;  the  communications,  that  is  the 
railways  entering  the  city,  the  streetcar  service,  telephone  service,  and  telegraph  ;  and 
all  those  things. 

[We  were  instructed  in]  sabotage;  how  to  wreck  trains,  at  this  point  closing 
down  factories,  facilitating  discontent  to  raise  the  mob  spirit  in  order  to  get  the  men 
i'i>  the  go,  and  various  other  acts  of  sabotage,  which  of  course  could  be  attempted  on 
a  moment's  notice.  Also  the  general  methods  of  derailing  a  train  and  destroying  its 
cargo.  I  mean,  if  it  is  going  to  be  available  for  the  enemy,  just  put  it  full  speed  ahead 
when  you  know  there  is  another  train  coming  head-on,  and  just  step  aside.  (Hearings 
before  the  Special  Committee  on  Un-American  Activities,  vol.  XI,  November  30,  1939, 
pp.  6984-7025.) 

M.  j.  olgin's  "why  communism?" 
Published  by  the  Workers  Library  Publishers,  official  Communist 
Party,  U.  S.  A.,  publishing  house  in  1935,  Why  Communism?  is  an  out- 
standing Communist  classic  by  Moissaye  J.  Olgin,  who  was,  until  his 
death  in  1939,  editor  in  chief  of  the  Morning  Freiheit,  official  Communist 
Party  daily  in  the  Jewish  language.  This  book  received  featured  notice 
in  the  Communist  International  (magazine)  of  July  20,  1935.  Besides 
being  a  member  of  Central  Committee  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A., 
Olgin  was  its  candidate  for  public  office  on  a  number  of  occasions  includ- 
ing United  States  Senate  in  1924,  New  York  State  Assembly  in  1933 
and  1936. 

On  the  occasion  of  Olgin's  death  on  November  22,  1939,  William  Z. 
Foster,  present  chairman  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A,  and  Earl 
Browder,  then  general  secretary,  jointly  declared : 

The  National  Committee  of  the  CPUSA  records  with  the  deepest  sorrow  the 
death  <>f  Moissaye  J.  Olgin  *  *  *  whoso  influence  extended  Ear  beyond  the  borders 
of  America,  as  well  as  (being)  a  loading  member  of  the  Communist  Party  since  1922. 


200  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

As  late  as  May  24,  1947,  the  Daily  Worker  referred  to  him  as  "  a  great 
American,  and  champion  of  labor. "  "We  cite  the  following  passages  from 
the  work  Why  Communism  f  showing  advocacy  of  overthrow  of  the 
American  Government  by  force  and  violence : 

Smash  Capitalist  State  by  Force 

We  Communists  say  that  there  is  one  way  to  aholish  the  capitalist  States,  and 
that  is  to  smash  it  by  force.  To  make  Communism  possible  the  workers  must  take  hold 
of  the  State  machinery  of  capitalism  and  destroy  it.  {Why  Communism,  by  M.  J. 
Olgin  (Workers  Library  Publishers,  New  York,  1935),  p.  32.) 

17.  Olgin  stressed  the  inevitability  of  resorting  to  force  and  civil 
war  in  America  and  ordered  preparation  for  this  eventuality. 

Inevitability  of  Civil  War 

If  the  workers  rise  in  this  way  against  war,  the  capitalists  with  their  armed 
forces  will  try  to  break  the  deadlock.  There  will  be  attacks  on  strikers.  The  workers 
will  have  to  offer  resistance.  We  Communists  do  not  close  our  eyes  to  the  fact  that 
this  means  civil  war.  But  when  the  masses  are  organized  and  fight  in  great  numbers 
under  revolutionary  leadership  the  victory  is  assured.  Part  of  the  army  is  certain  to 
waver  and  to  join  the  people.  There  may  be  victims,  but  their  number  cannot  be  com- 
pared to  the  losses  in  life  and  limb  that  the  workers  would  suffer  in  the  imperialist  war. 

Victory  in  the  civil  war  spells  the  doom  of  the  capitalist  State.  We  Communists 
do  not  say  to  the  workers  that  they  have  to  begin  the  civil  war  today  or  tomorrow. 
We  say  that  the  civil  war  is  the  inevitable  outcome  of  long  and  arduous  struggles 
against  the  capitalists  and  their  State  and  that  these  struggles  must  be  made  the 
everyday  practice  of  the  working  class.  (Ibid.,  p.  43.) 

18.  He  described  in  detail  the  steps  toward  the  armed  uprising 
which  display  a  remarkable  similarity  to  Communist  tactics  in  certain 
countries  at  the  present  time. 

Insurrections 

A  time  comes  when  there  is  demoralization  above,  a  growing  revolt  below ;  the 
morale  of  the  army  is  also  undermined.  The  old  structure  of  society  is  tottering.  There 
are  actual  insurrections ;  the  army  wavers.  Panic  seizes  the  rulers.  A  general  upris- 
ing begins. 

Workers  Arm  Themselves 

Workers  stop  work,  many  of  them  seize  arms  by  attacking  arsenals.  Many  had 
armed  themselves  before  as  the  struggles  sharpened.  Street  fights  become  frequent. 
Under  the  leadership  of  the  Communist  Party,  the  workers  organize  Revolutionary 
Committees  to  be  in  command  of  the  uprising.  There  are  battles  in  the  principal  cities. 
Barricades  are  built  and  defended.  The  Workers'  fighting  has  a  decisive  influence 
with  the  soldiers.  Army  units  begin  to  join  the  revolutionary  fighters  ;  there  is  frater- 
nization between  the  workers  and  the  soldiers,  the  workers  and  the  marines.  The 
movement  among  the  soldiers  and  marines  spreads.  Capitalism  is  losing  its  strongest 
weapon,  the  army.  The  police  as  a  rule  continue  fighting,  but  they  are  soon  silenced 
and  made  to  flee  by  the  united  revolutionary  forces  of  workers  and  soldiers.  The  revo- 
lution is  victorious.  Can  it  be  done?  It  has  been  done  more  than  once.  (Ibid.,  pp. 
59  and  60.) 

19.  Olgin  predicted  that  the  revolutionists  would  avail  themselves 
not  only  of  rifles  but  of  battleships,  poison  gas,  and  planes  to  be  turned 
against  the  old  system. 

Use  of  Arms 

What  is  true  is  that  a  revolution  cannot  win  unless  the  armed  forces,  or  at  least 
part  of  them,  join  the  workers.  But  once  they  join,  the  workers  have  not  only  rifles 
and  cannon  but  also  airships  and  poison  gas  and  battleships  to  fight  the  bosses.  Poison 
gases  are  destructive,  to  be  sure,  but  their  destructive  power  can  be  turned  also  against 
the  old  system.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  workers  should  not  use  them  against  the 
enemy  when  the  final  conflict  has  arrived.  (Ibid.,  pp.  60,  61.) 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  201 

20.  Olgin  did  not  mince  any  words  on  his  advocacy  of  force  and 
violence. 

Force  and  Violence 

"But  this  is  force  and  violence,"  somebody  will  contend.  "Don't  you  Communists 
know  that  the  use  of  force  and  violence  is  wrong?"  We  reply  to  this  first,  that  if  being 
a  "red-blooded  American"  means  anything,  it  means  that  you  must  not  take  punish- 
ment lying  down,  that  you  must  offer  resistance.  (Ibid.,  p.  61.) 

21.  He  held  out  the  prospect  that  armed  workers  woidd  crush 
American  democracy . 

Armed  Workers  Crush  State 

Having  crushed  the  capitalist  State,  the  social  revolution,  acting  through  armed 
workers  and  soldiers,  will  establish  the  Soviet  State  as  the  instrument  of  the  workers' 
and  poor  farmers'  power.  (Ibid.,  p.  62.) 

22.  Expropriation  of  property  by  force  was  Olgin' s  formula  for 
the  social  revolution. 

Against  Peaceful  Means.  Expropriation  by  Force 

It  is  the  task  of  the  Soviets  to  abolish  private  property  in  the  means  of  pro- 
duction and  to  establish  Socialist  production  and  distribution. 

This  cannot  be  accomplished  peacefully.  The  exploiters  won't  give  up  their  loot 
even  after  their  State  power  is  crushed.  They  will  have  to  be  routed.  The  Soviet  gov- 
ernment will  have  to  expropriate  the  expropriators  by  force.  The  latter  will  conspire 
and  plot  against  the  new  system  ;  they  will  organize  counterrevolutionary  uprisings. 
The  Soviet  State  will  have  to  crush  these  with  an  iron  hand.  The  former  exploiters 
will  be  given  no  quarter.  The  old  system  of  robbery  with  all  its  rubbish  will  have  to 
be  cleared  away.  This  means  that  the  Soviet  State  must  be  ruthless ;  it  must  destroy 
the  counter-revolutionary  forces — the  quicker  the  better  for  the  workers  and  for  the 
future  of  mankind.  (Ibid.,  p.  63.) 

23.  Olgin  declared  that  the  Communist  Party  engages  in  various 
forms  of  struggle  including  open  mass  combat  with  the  police  in  the 
streets. 

Mass  Combat  With  Police 

The  Communist  Party  leads  political  as  well  as  economic  struggles.  These 
fights  are  conducted  through  literature,  through  mass  meetings,  through  demonstra- 
tions and,  when  occasion  demands,  through  open  mass  combat  with  the  police  in  the 
streets.  (Hid.,  p.  65.) 

24.  He  ridiculed  resort  to  legal  or  parliamentary  means. 

Against  Legal  Means 

We  go  to  the  law-making  institutions,  not  to  tinker  them  up  for  the  benefit 
of  the  capitalists,  but  to  be  a  monkey  wrench  in  their  machinery,  preventing  it  from 
working  smoothly  on  behalf  of  the  masters.  {Ibid.,  p.  66.) 

25.  Published  in  1936,  the  pamphlet  What  Is  Communism  ?  by  the 
then  general  secretary  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  Earl  Browder, 
had  the  following  to  say  regarding  force  and  violence : 

History  does  not  show  a  single  example  in  which  state  power  was  transferred 
from  one  class  to  another  by  peaceful  means,  whether  in  the  form  of  voting  or  some 
other  method  of  formal  democracy.  ( What  is  Communism?  by  Earl  Browder,  pub- 
lished by  Workers  Library  Publishers,  New  York;  second  edition,  1936,  Ch.  XIV, 
entitled  "Fore  and  Violence,"  p.  127.) 


202  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

26.  As  recently  as  March  31,  1948,  Milton  Howard,  feature  writer, 
declared  on  page  9  of  the  Daily  Worker  his  lack  of  faith  in  democratic 
processes,  as  follows: 

There  is  no  case  in  history  where  the  propertied  class  has  democratically  per- 
mitted the  nation  to  vote  establishment  of  new  property  relations  which  turned  the 
nation's  industries  over  to  the  nation  as  a  whole,  taking  them  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
private  owners. 

27.  The  belief  in  forceful  repression  of  those  ivho  do  not  fall  in 
with  the  Communist  viewpoint  was  also  demonstrated  in  April,  1948, 
when  Dr.  Howard  Selsam,  an  avowed  Marxist  and  director  of  the  Jeffer- 
son School  of  Social  Science,  a  Communist  school  in  New  York  cited 
as  subversive  by  Attorney  General  Tom  Clark,  told  a  newspaper  reporter 
what  would  happen  when  Marxist  socialism  achieved  its  inevitable 
triumph  in  the  United  States.  Selsam,  who  was  identified  as  a  Communist 
with  the  party  alias  of  "Hill"  by  three  former  Communist  professors 
in  testimony  before  the  Bapp-Coudert  committee  investigating  sub- 
versive activities  in  the  New  York  public  schools,  said: 

When  labor,  the  middle  classes  and  farmers  have  achieved  a  majority  in  the 
interest  of  carrying  out  an  extremely  democratic  control  of  all  peoples,  it  may  be 
necessary  to  exercise  repression  against  elements  who  would  turn  back  the  clock. 

(Report  of  the  Subcommittee  of  the  Joint  Legislative  Committee  to  Investigate 
Procedures  and  Methods  of  Allocating  State  Moneys  for  Public  School  Purposes  and 
Subversive  Activities,  February  11,  1942.) 

If  an  American  newspaper  opposed  Marxism  at  such  a  time  it  would 
be  suppressed,  Selsam  said  : 

That's  a  luxury  that  cannot  be  allowed.  Measures  would  be  taken  to  see  that 
the  press  supported  the  general  trend  toward  socialism.  Noncomplying  newspapers 
would  have  to  suspend  operation.  That's  where  Marxism  is  rough  about  this.  (Wash- 
ington Evening  Star,  April  15,  1948,  p.  B8.) 

IV.  Basic  Communist  Documents  Advocating  Force  and  Violence 

In  presenting  the  programmatic  directives  of  the  leading  oracles  of 
the  Communist  movement  such  as  Karl  Marx,  Friedrich  Engels,  Vlad- 
imir I.  Lenin,  and  Joseph  Stalin,  of  the  Communist  International  and 
its  successor,  the  Cominform,  and  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet 
Union  and  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States,  we  shall  by  no 
means  exhaust  all  their  utterances  dealing  with  force  and  violence  which 
are  scattered  through  a  large  number  of  voluminous  works. 

We  have  sought  merely  to  present  typical  views  on  the  necessity  of 
resort  to  force  and  violence,  at  the  same  time  showing  their  consistent 
and  continuous  advocacy  by  Communists  over  a  period  of  years  down  to 
the  present  time. 

For  purposes  of  precision  and  proper  interpretation  of  these  views, 
it  might  be  well  to  note  that  Alexander  Burrill  in  his  Law  Dictionary 
and  Glossary  defines  force  as  ' '  unlawful  violence  offered  to  persons  and 
things."  Bouvier's  Unabridged  Law  Dictionary  defines  violence  as 
"force  which  is  employed  against  common  right,  against  the  laws,  and 
against  public  liberty."  We  hold  that  advocacy  of  civil  war,  armed 
uprising,  and  insurrection  may  properly  be  included  under  these  heads. 

(See  also,  Definitions,  Page  252.) 

In  presenting  citations  showing  advocacy  of  overthrow  of  govern- 
ment by  force  and  violence,  the  committee  has  withheld  references  which 
do  not  openly  so  advocate  but  which  might  be  interpreted  as  carrying 
such  advocacy  by  implication.  We  have  therefore  omitted  references 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  203 

limited  merely  to  advocacy  of  ' '  revolution, "  "  revolutionary  overthrow, ' ' 
"conquest  of  power,"  "expropriation  of  property,"  "class  struggle," 
and  similar  expressions,  without  necessarily  implying  that  such  aims 
do  not  entail  the  use  of  forcible  and  violent  means. 

(A)  Karl  Marx  and  Friedrich  Engels 

Karl  Marx  was  a  German  philosopher  who  formulated  the  prin- 
ciples which  constitute  the  basis  of  the  world  Communist  movement  at 
the  present  time.  His  best  known  works  are  The  Communist  Manifesto 
and  Capital.  The  Manifesto  was  written  in  1847  in  behalf  of  the  League 
of  the  Communists. 

Together  with  Friedrich  Engels,  his  close  collaborator  in  writing 
these  works,  Marx  was  the  founder  of  the  International  Working  Men's 
Association,  otherwise  known  as  the  First  International.  The  association 
was  founded  in  London  in  1864  and  was  dissolved  in  1876. 

The  Second  International  was  known  as  the  Socialist  International, 
from  which  the  Communists  split  to  form  the  Third  or  Communist  Inter- 
national. 

The  Marx-Engels  Institute  in  Moscow  has  published  an  exhaustive 
bibliography  of  Marx  and  Engels'  writings  and  has  begun  the  issue  of  a 
collected  edition  of  their  writings  in  42  volumes. 

1.  The  following  passage  is  taken  from  the  Communist  Manifesto: 

Civil  War.  Violent  Overthrow.  Sweeps  Away  by  Force  the  Old  Conditions  of 
Production.  Forcible  Overthrow  of  All  Existing  Social  Conditions 
In  depicting  the  most  general  phases  of  the  development  of  the  proletariat,  we 
traced  the  more  or  less  veiled  civil  war  raging  within  existing  society,  up  to  the  point 
where  that  war  breaks  out  into  open  revolution,  and  where  the  violent  overthrow  of 
the  bourgeoisie  lays  the  foundation  for  the  sway  of  the  proletariat  *   *  *. 

If  the  proletariat  during  its  contest  with  the  bourgeoisie  is  compelled,  by  the 
force  of  circumstances,  to  organize  itself  as  a  class ;  if,  by  means  of  a  revolution  it 
makes  itself  the  ruling  class,  and,  as  such  sweeps  away  by  force  the  old  conditions  of 
production,  then  it  will,  along  with  these  conditions,  have  swept  away  the  conditions 
for  the  existence  of  class  antagonisms,  and  of  classes  generally,  and  will  thereby  have 
abolished  its  own  supremacy  as  a  class  *  *  *. 

The  Communists  disdain  to  conceal  their  views  and  aims.  They  openly  declare 
that  their  ends  can  be  attained  only  by  the  forcible  overthrow  of  all  existing  social 
conditions.  Let  the  ruling  classes  tremble  at  a  Communist  revolution.  The  proletarians 
have  nothing  to  lose  but  their  chains.  They  have  a  world  to  win  *  *  *.  {Manifesto  of 
the  Communist  Party,  by  Karl  Marx  and  Friedrich  Engels  (published  by  International 
Publishers,  New  York,  1932,  and  originally  published  in  1848) ,  pp.  20,  21,  31,  44.) 

2.  "Brutal  conflict"  and  "bloody  struggle"  are  confidently  pre- 
dicted by  Marx  in  the  following  passage  from  his  Poverty  of  Philosophy: 

Brutal  Conflict,  Hand-to-hand  Struggle.  Bloody  Struggle 

In  the  meantime,  the  antagonism  between  the  proletariat  and  the  bourgeoisie  is 
a  struggle  between  class  and  class,  a  struggle  which,  carried  to  its  highest  expression, 
is  a  complete  revolution.  Would  it,  moreover,  be  matter  for  astonishment  if  a  society, 
based  upon  the  antagonism  of  classes,  should  lead  ultimately  to  a  brutal  conflict,  to  a 
hand-to-hand  struggle  as  its  final  denouement?  *   *   * 

It  is  only  in  an  order  of  things  in  which  there  will  be  no  longer  classes  or  class 
antagonism  that  social  revolutions  will  cease  to  be  political  revolutions.  Until  then, 
on  the  eve  of  each  general  reconstruction  of  society,  the  last  word  of  social  science  will 
ever  be : 

"Le  combat  ou  la  mort ;  la  lutte  sanguinaire  ou  le  n£ant.  C'est  asinsi  que  la 
question  est  invinciblement  pos6e." — George  Sand. 


204  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

"Combat  or  death  ;  bloody  struggle  or  extinction.  It  is  thus  that  the  question  is 
irresistibly  put."  (The  Poverty  of  Philosophy,  by  Karl  Marx,  a  translation  of  Misere 
de  la  Philosophie,  by  Karl  Marx  with  a  preface  by  Friedrich  Engels  ( Charles  H.  Kerr 
&  Co.,  Chicago,  1920),  pp.  190  and  191,  originally  published  in  1847.) 

3.  To  offset  any  illusions  as  to  the  possibility  of  resort  to  constitutional 
means,  Marx  and  Engels  declare: 

The  working  class  cannot  simply  lay  hold  of  the  ready  made  state  machinery  and 
wield  it  for  its  own  purposes.  (Civil  War  in  France,  by  Karl  Marx  and  Friedrich 
Engels  (International  Publishers,  New  York,  1940),  p.  54,  which  first  appeared  as  a 
series  of  articles  in  1848.) 

Necessity  to  Smash  the  Military  Bureaucratic  Machine 

4.  In  his  letter  to  Dr.  Ludwig  Kugelmann  on  April  12,  1871,  Marx 
indicated  that  to  attain  power  the  proletarian  re-volution  must — 

be  no  longer,  as  before,  to  transfer  the  bureaucratic-military  machine  from  one  hand 
to  another  but  to  smash  it,  and  that  is  essential  for  every  real  people's  revolution  on 
the  Continent.  (Letters  to  Dr.  Kugelmann  (International  Publishers,  New  York, 
1934),  p.  123.) 

(B)  Vladimir  I.  Lenin 

Vladimir  Ilyich  Ulyanov  Lenin  was  an  avowed  disciple  of  Karl  Marx. 
He  headed  the  Bolshevik  or  majority  wing  of  the  Social  Democratic 
Party  of  Russia  under  the  Czarist  regime  In  October,  1917,  he  led  an 
armed  insurrection  which  overthrew  the  republican  government  estab- 
lished by  Alexander  Kerensky. 

Lenin  was  the  outstanding  theoretician  and  founder  of  the  Com- 
munist International.  He  was  the  first  Premier  of  the  Soviet  Government. 
Lenin's  pamphlets  and  collected  works  have  been  published  and  repub- 
lished both  in  the  United  States  and  in  Moscow.  They  are  accepted  as 
unreservedly  authoritative  by  Communist  Parties  throughout  the  world. 

Much  of  this  material  was  written  during  the  period  prior  to  1917 
when  Lenin  was  a  leader  of  the  Communist  (Bolshevik)  faction  of  the 
Russian  Social  Democratic  Party,  or  Socialist  Party,  prior  to  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Russian  Communist  Party. 

1.  We  cite  first  from,  the  classic  work  by  Lenin,  The  State  and  the 
Revolution,  on  the  role  of  force  and  violent  revolution: 

Role  of  Force.  Violent  Revolution.  Crush  Capitalists  With  Iron  Hand 

of  Armed  Workers.  Crush  Capitalists  by  Force 

Fifthly,  in  the  same  work  of  Engels,  from  which  everyone  remembers  his  argu- 
ment on  the  "withering  away"  of  the  state,  there  is  also  a  disquisition  on  the  signifi- 
cance of  a  violent  revolution.  The  historical  analysis  of  its  role  becomes,  with  Engels, 
a  veritable  panegyric  on  violent  revolution. 

Here  is  Engels'  argument : 

*  *  *  That  force,  however,  plays  another  role  (other  than  that  of  a  diabolical 
power)  in  history,  a  revolutionary  role;  that,  in  the  words  of  Marx,  it  is  the  midwife 
of  every  old  society  which  is  pregnant  with  the  new  ;  that  it  is  the  instrument  with  whose 
aid  social  movement  forces  its  way  through  and  shatters  the  dead,  fossilized  political 
forms — of  this  there  is  not  a  word  in  Herr  Duhring.  It  is  only  with  sighs  and  groans 
that  he  admits  the  possibility  that  force  will  perhaps  be  necessary  for  the  overthrow 
of  the  economic  system  of  exploitation — unfortunately !  because,  all  use  of  force,  for- 
sooth, demoralizes  the  person  who  uses  it.  And  this  in  spite  of  the  immense  moral  and 
spiritual  impetus  which  has  resulted  from  every  victorious  revolution  ! 

We  have  already  said  above  and  shall  show  more  fully  later  that  the  teaching  of 
Marx  and  Engels  regarding  the  inevitability  of  a  violent  revolution  refers  to  the 
bourgeois  state.  It  cannot  be  replaced  by  the  proletarian  state  (the  dictatorship  of  the 
proletariat)  through  "withering  away"  but,  as  a  general  rule,  only  through  a  violent 
revolution.  The  panegyric  sung  in  its  honour  by  Engels  and  fully  corresponding  to 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  205 

the  repeated  declarations  of  Marx  (remember  the  concluding  passages  of  the  Poverty 
of  Philosophy  and  the  Communist  Manifesto,  with  its  proud  and  open  declaration  of 
the  inevitability  of  a  violent  revolution) . 

The  necessity  of  systematically  fostering  among  the  masses  this  and  just  this 
point  of  view  about  violent  revolution  lies  at  the  root  of  the  whole  of  Marx's  and 
Engels'  teaching. 

The  replacement  of  the  bourgeois  by  the  proletarian  state  is  impossible  without 
a  violent  revolution. 

Overthrow  the  capitalists,  crush  with  the  iron  hand  of  the  armed  workers  the 
resistance  of  these  exploiters,  break  the  bureaucratic  machine  of  the  modern  state. 
*  *  * 

But  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat — i.e.,  the  organization  of  the  vanguard 
of  the  oppressed  as  the  ruling  class  for  the  purpose  of  crushing  the  oppressors— cannot 
produce  merely  an  expansion  of  democracy.  *  *   * 

We  must  crush  them  [the  exploiters]  in  order  to  free  humanity  from  wage- 
slavery  ;  their  resistance  must  be  broken  by  force.  *  *  *  (State  and  Revolution,  by 
V.  I.  Lenin  (International  Publishers,  New  York,  1935),  pp.  18,  19,  20,  43,  73.) 

2.  Lenin  preached  the  necessity  of  civil  war  when  he  was  still  a 
member  of  the  Russian  Socialist  Party.  His  preachment  was  presented 
as  a  guide  to  the  Communist  Party,  V.  8.  A.,  in  its  official  literature. 

Civil  War.  Necessity  of  Turning  Weapons  Against  Bourgeois  Government 

The  opportunists  had  long  been  preparing  the  collapse  of  the  Second  Interna- 
tional by  renouncing  the  Socialist  revolution  and  substituting  for  it  bourgeois  reform- 
ism ;  by  rejecting  the  class  struggle,  which  at  certain  moments  necessarily  turns  into 
civil  war,  and  preaching  instead  the  collaboration  of  classes,  by  preaching  bourgeois 
chauvinism  and  defense  of  the  fatherland,  under  the  cloak  of  patriotism,  and  rejecting 
the  elementary  truth  of  Socialism  expressed  long  ago  in  The  Communist  Manifesto, 
that  the  workers  have  no  fatherland ;  by  confining  themselves  in  the  struggle  against 
militarism  to  a  sentimental  philistine  point  of  view  instead  of  recognizing  the  neces- 
sity of  a  revolutionary  war  of  the  proletarians  of  all  countries  against  the  bourgeois 
of  all  countries ;  by  making  a  fetish  of  the  necessity  of  utilizing  bourgeois  parliamen- 
tarism and  bourgeois  legality,  forgetting  that  in  time  of  crisis  illegal  forms  of  organi- 
zation and  propaganda  are  imperative. 

The  slogans  of  Social-Democracy  must  now  be :  First  an  all-embracing  propa- 
ganda of  the  Socialist  revolution,  to  be  extended  also  to  the  army  and  the  area  of 
military  activities  ;  emphasis  to  be  placed  on  the  necessity  of  turning  the  weapons, 
not  against  the  brother  wage  slaves  of  other  countries,  but  against  the  reaction  of 
the  bourgeois  governments  and  parties  in  each  country  ;  recognition  of  the  urgent 
necessity  of  organizing  illegal  nuclei  and  groups  in  the  armies  of  all  nations  to  conduct 
such  propaganda  in  all  languages ;  a  merciless  struggle  against  the  chauvinism  and 
patriotism  of  the  philistines  and  bourgeoisie  of  all  countries  without  exception. 
(Excerpts  from  The  Communist,  a  magazine  of  the  theory  and  practice  of  Marxism- 
Leninism,  published  monthly  by  the  Communist  Party  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica, August,  1934,  vol.  XIII,  No.  7,  pp.  751-754.  From  an  article  entitled  "The  Tasks 
of  Revolutionary  Social-Democracy  in  the  European  War,"  by  V.  I.  Lenin.) 

3.  Lenin  insisted  on  the  inevitable  connection  between  the  class 
struggle  and  civil  war  and  branded  as  opportunists  those  who  denied 
this  view. 

Civil  War  and  the  Class  Struggle 

Civil  wars  are  also  wars.  Those  who  accept  the  class  struggle  must  accept  civil 
wars,  which,  under  certain  circumstances,  are  a  natural  and  inevitable  continunce, 
development  and  accentuation  of  the  class  struggle  in  every  society  based  on  class 
division.  *  *  *  To  deny  or  overlook  civil  wars  would  mean  becoming  a  victim  of  the 
most  hopeless  opportunism  and  abandoning  the  social  revolution.  (Excerpt  from  an 
article  entitled  "Socialism  and  War,"  by  V.  I.  Lenin,  published  in  the  Daily  ^Vorker, 
April  8,  1933,  p.  5.) 


206  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

4.  Again  and  again  in  his  writings  he  stressed  the  need  of  turning 
a  so-called  "imperialist  war"  into  civil  war. 

Turn  Imperialist  War  Into  Civil  War 

But  if  in  1914  failure  to  understand  that  the  imperialist  war  must  inevitably 
be  turned  into  a  civil  war  was  merely  philistine  stupidity,  now,  in  1919,  it  is  already 
something  worse.  It  is  treachery  to  the  working  class.  For  civil  war  both  in  Russia, 
and  in  Finland,  and  in  Latvia,  and  in  Germany,  and  in  Hungary  is  a  fact.  (Lenin  on 
the  Historic  Significance  of  the  Third  International  (Martin  Lawrence,  London,  1934) , 
P.  22.) 

5.  Lenin  emphasized  and,  developed  Marx'  theory  about  the  neces- 
sity of  smashing  the  democratic  state  machine  by  force. 

Smashing  the  Bureaucratic-military  Machine 

In  his  notes  on  Marx'  Critique  of  the  Gotha  Programme,  Lenin  refers  to  "the 
'smashing'  of  the  bureaucratic-military  machine"  and  to  the  necessity  of  "crushing 
of  the  resistance  of  the  rich  by  force."  ( Lenin  on  the  Critique  of  the  Gotha  Programme, 
from  his  notebook,  Marxism  on  the  State  (January-February,  1917),  published  in 
Critique  of  the  Gotha  Programme,  by  Karl  Marx  (International  Publishers,  New 
York,  1938),  pp.  50  and  56.) 

6.  One  of  the  heroes  of  the  international  Communist  movement, 
eulogized  by  Lenin,  was  Karl  Liebknecht,  the  German  Socialist,  who 
urged  the  German  workers  to  turn  their  guns  against  their  own  govern- 
ment during  the  First  World  War. 

Turn  Guns  Against  Own  Government 

Karl  Liebknecht  called  upon  the  workers  and  soldiers  of  Germany  to  turn  their 
guns  against  their  own  government.  Karl  Liebknecht  did  that  openly  from  the  parlia- 
mentary tribune  (the  Reichstag).  *  *   * 

Those  who  confine  themselves  to  "demanding"  that  the  bourgeois  governments 
should  conclude  peace  or  "ascertain  the  will  of  the  peoples  for  peace,"  etc.,  are  actually 
slipping  into  reforms.  For,  objectively,  the  problem  of  war  can  be  solved  only  in  a 
revolutionary  way.  (The  Tasks  of  the  Proletariat  in  Our  Revolution,  Draft  of  a 
Platform  for  the  Proletarian  Party,  from  a  speech  delivered  by  V.  I.  Lenin  on  April  23 
(10),  1917,  and  published  in  the  Communist  International,  by  V.  I.  Lenin  (Interna- 
tional Publishers,  New  York,  1938),  pp.  7  and  9.) 

7.  Lenin  showed  that  possibilities  of  civil  war  were  not  limited  to 
Russia  but  could  be  extended  to  include  the  most  developed  capitalist 
countries. 

Civil  War  in  Developed  Capitalist  Countries 

Civil  war  has  become  a  fact,  not  only  in  Russia,  but  also  in  the  most  developed 
capitalist  countries  of  Europe,  for  example,  Germany.  (Ibid.,  Speech  at  the  Opening 
of  the  First  Congress  of  the  Communist  International,  March  2,  1919,  p.  26.) 

8.  Similarly,  turning  "imperialist  war"  into  civil  war  could  be 
extended  to  nations  outside  of  Russia. 

Transformation  of  Imperialist  War  Into  Civil  War 

Now,  the  transformation  of  imperialist  war  into  civil  war  has  become  a  fact 
in  a  number  of  countries,  not  only  in  Russia,  but  also  in  Finland,  in  Hungary,  in 
Germany,  and  even  in  neutral  Switzerland,  and  the  growth  of  civil  war  is  observed, 
is  felt,  is  palpable  in  all  advanced  countries  without  exception.  (Ibid.,  The  Tasks  of 
the  Third  International,  p.  48.) 

9.  Lenin  time  and  again  pilloried  those  who  opposed  propaganda 
calling  for  the  defeat  of  the  capitalists  through  civil  war. 

Inevitability  of  Civil  War 

The  lackey  souls  of  the  Berne  International  never  think  of  imbuing  the  masses 
with  the  consciousness  of  the  inevitablity  and  necessity  of  defeating  the  bourgeoisie  in 
civil  war  *  *  *   (Ibid.,  p.  49.) 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  207 

10.  He  leveled  his  sharpest  criticism  against  those  who  counseled 
reliance  upon  constitutional  means  instead  of  civil  war. 

State  Apparatus  Must  Be  Broken  and  Smashed.  Civil  War  Decides  Questions 

Comical  pedants !  They  failed  to  understand  that  voting  within  the  limits,  the 

institutions,  the  customs  of  bourgeois  parliamentarian  is  part  of  the  bourgeois  state 

apparatus  which  must  be  broken  and  smashed  from  top  to  bottom  in  order  to  effect  the 

dictatorship  of  the  proletariat,  in  order  to  pass  from  bourgeois  democracy  to  proletarian 

democracy. 

They  failed  to  understand  that,  generally  speaking,  it  is  not  voting  but  civil  war 

that  decides  all  serious  questions  of  politics  when  history  places  the  dictatorship  of 

the  proletariat  on  the  order  of  the  day.  (Ibid.,  p.  51.) 

11.  The  task  of  accomplishing  the  violent  overthrow  of  the  state  was 
pointed  out  by  Lenin  in  outlining  the  fundamental  tasks  of  the  Commu- 
nist hit  er  national. 

Violent  Overthrow  of  the  Bourgeoisie  and  State  Apparatus 

Only  the  violent  overthrow  of  the  bourgeoisie,  the  confiscation  of  its  property, 
the  destruction  of  the  whole  of  the  bourgeois  state  apparatus  from  top  to  bottom — 
parliamentary,  judicial,  military,  bureaucratic,  administrative,  municipal,  etc.,  right 
up  to  the  very  wholesale  deportation  or  internment  of  the  most  dangerous  and  stubborn 
exploiters  *  *  *  only  such  measures  can  ensure  the  real  subordination  of  the  whole 
class  of  exploiters.  (Theses  on  the  Fundamental  Tasks  of  the  Second  Congress  of  the 
Communist  International,  delivered  July  4,  1920,  ibid.,  p.  164.) 

12.  Lenin  openly  scoffed  at  legality  and  as  early  as  1920  held  that 
America  was  entering  the  stage  of  civil  war. 

Civil  War  in  America 

In  nearly  all  countries  in  Europe  and  America  the  class  struggle  is  entering  the 
stage  of  civil  war.  Under  the  circumstances,  the  Communists  can  have  no  confidence 
in  bourgeois  legalitv.  (The  Conditions  of  Affiliation  to  the  Communist  International, 
ibid.,  p.  202.) 

13.  Prior  to  World  War  I,  Lenin  urged  the  necessity  of  turning  the 
weapons  of  the  army  against  the  government  itself  as  essential  for  the 
social  revolution. 

Turning  Weapons  Against  Government 

The  slogans  of  Social-Democracy  must  now  be :  First,  an  all-embracing  propa- 
ganda of  the  Socialist  revolution,  to  be  extended  also  to  the  army  and  the  area  of 
military  activities  :  emphasis  to  be  placed  on  the  necessity  of  turning  the  weapons,  not 
against  the  brother  wage-slaves  of  other  countries,  but  against  the  reaction  of  the 
bourgeois  governments  and  parties  in  each  country.  *  *  *  (The  Tasks  of  Revolu- 
tionary Social  Democracy  in  the  European  War,  Collected  Works  of  V.  I.  Lenin,  vol. 
XVIII,  The  Imperialist  War  (International  Publishers,  New  York,  1930),  p.  63.) 

14.  He  proposed  the  slogan  of  civil  war  instead  of  peace. 

Change  National  War  Into  Civil  War 

The  slogan  of  "peace"  is  incorrect,  as  the  slogan  must  be  :  changing  the  national 
war  into  civil  war.  (This  change  may  take  a  long  time,  it  may  and  will  demand  a 
number  of  preliminary  conditions,  bul  the  work  must  be  conducted  along  the  line  of 
such  a  change,  in  this  spirit  and  in  this  direction.)   (Ibid.,  p.  74.) 

15.  He  advocated  systematic  preparation  of  the  armed  forces  for 
civil  war. 

Civil  War  Not  in  One  Nation  Alone 

As  to  ourselves,  we  must  prepare  a  mass  (at  least  a  collective)  action  in  the 
army,  not  of  one  nation  alone,  and  conduct  all  the  work  of  propaganda  and  agitation 
in  this  direction.  To  direct  the  work  (stubborn,  systematic  work  that  may  require  a 
long  time)  in  the  spirit  of  transforming  the  national  war  into  civil  war — this  is  the 
whole  issue.  (Ibid.,  p.  75.) 


208  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

16.  Lenin  was  a  ruthless  opponent  of  those  who  advocated  reform 
instead  of  civil  war. 

Class  Struggle  Inevitably  Transformed  Into  Civil  War 

The  opportunist  had  long  been  preparing  this  collapse  by  rejecting  the  Socialist 
revolution  and  substituting  for  it  bourgeois  reformism ;  by  repudiating  the  class  strug- 
gle with  its  inevitable  transformation  into  civil  war  at  certain  moments  *  *  *  (Ibid., 
p.  SO.) 

17.  According  to  Lenin  the  policy  of  transforming  an  "imperialist 
war"  into  civil  war,  which  he  advocated,  was  founded  upon  principles 
established  by  the  Paris  Commune. 

Transforming  Imperialist  War  Into  Civil  War.  Paris  Commune  as  an 
Example  of  Civil  War 

The  proletariat  exposes  this  swindle  (of  national  war)  in  that  it  raises  the  slogan 
of  transforming  the  imperialist  war  into  civil  war.  This  very  slogan  was  suggested  by 
the  Stuttgart  and  Basle  resolutions,  which  had  in  mind  not  war  in  general  but  precisely 
the  present  war,  and  which  spoke  not  of  the  "defence  of  the  fatherland"  but  of  "hasten- 
ing the  collapse  of  capitalim,"  of  utilizing  for  this  aim  the  crisis  created  by  the  war, 
and  of  the  example  of  the  Commune.  The  Commune  was  a  transformation  of  war 
between  peoples  into  civil  war.  (Hid.,  p.  87.) 

18.  He  specifically  laid  down,  as  the  task  of  the  Communist  Inter- 
national, civil  war  against  the  capitalist  class  of  all  countries. 

Raise  the  Banner  of  Civil  War.  Civil  War  Against  Capitalists  (Bourgeoisie) 

of  All  Countries 

Work  directed  toward  transforming  the  war  of  the  peoples  into  a  civil  war  is  the 
only  Socialist  work  in  the  epoch  of  an  imperialist  armed  conflict  of  the  bourgeoisie  of 
all  nations.  Down  with  the  sentimental  and  foolish  preacher's  yearnings  for  a  "peace 
at  any  price  !"  Let  us  raise  the  banner  of  civil  war  !  *  *  *  If  not  today,  then  certainly 
tomorrow ;  if  not  during  the  present  war,  then  after  it ;  if  not  in  this  war,  then  in  the 
following  one,  the  proletarian  banner  of  civil  war  will  rally  not  only  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  enlightened  workers,  but  also  millions  of  semi-proletarians  and  petty 
bourgeois  *  *  *.  The  Third  International  is  confronted  with  the  task  of  organizing 
the  forces  of  the  proletariat  for  a  revolutionary  onslaught  on  the  capitalist  govern- 
ments, for  civil  war  against  the  bourgeoisie  of  all  countries  *  *  *.  (Ibid.,  pp.  88  and  89. 
It  should  be  noted  that  the  Russian  Communists  (Bolsheviks)  were  in  1914,  when  this 
article  was  written,  members  of  the  Social  Democratic  Labor  Party  of  Russia.) 

19.  Quoting  Engels,  Lenin  pointed  out  cunningly  how  to  place  the 
blame  for  violence  and  civil  war  upon  what  he  called  the  ruling  class. 

Choose  the  Moment  for  Changing  Ballots  Into  Bullets 

Engels  wrote  in  1891,  advocating,  most  correctly,  the  use  of  bourgeois  legality 
by  us  revolutionists  in  the  period  of  so-called  peaceful  development.  Engels'  idea  was 
perfectly  clear ;  we  class-conscious  workers,  he  said,  would  be  the  next  to  shoot ;  it  is 
more  favourable  for  us  to  choose  the  moment  for  changing  the  ballots  into  bullets  (to 
pass  to  civil  war)  when  the  bourgeoisie  itself  has  broken  the  legal  basis  created  by  it. 
(Ibid.,  p.  95.) 

20.  Lenin  had  no  use  for  those  who  advocated  civil  peace,  indicating 
clearly  his  preference  for  civil  strife  with  arms  in  hand. 

Turn  Imperialist  War  Into  Civil  War.  Arms  in  Hand.  Against  Civil  Peace 

To  turn  the  present  imperialist  war  into  civil  war  is  the  only  correct  proletarian 
slogan  following  from  the  experience  of  the  Commune,  indicated  by  the  Basle  (1912) 
resolution  and  dictated  by  all  the  conditions  of  an  imperialist  war  between  highly 
developed  bourgeois  countries. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  209 

Civil  war  to  which  revolutionary  Social-Democracy  calls  at  the  present  period  is 
a  struggle  of  the  proletariat,  with  arms  in  hand,  against  the  bourgeoisie  for  the  purpose 
of  expropriating  the  capitalist  class  in  the  advanced  capitalist  countries  *   *   *. 

As  the  first  steps  towards  changing  the  present  imperialist  war  into  civil  war, 
we  may  indicate  *  *  *.  Complete  break  with  the  policy  of  "civil  peace"  *  *  *.  Support 
to  every  kind  of  revolutionary  mass  action  of  the  proletariat  in  general.  (Ibid.,  p.  147.) 

21.  As  a  'preparation  for  civil  war,  Lenin  proposed  every  possible 
measure  for  weakening  the  government,  including  the  army. 

Defeat  of  the  Army  in  Preparation  for  Civil  War 

The  struggle  against  the  government  that  conducts  the  imperialist  war  must  not 
halt  in  any  country  before  the  possibility  of  that  country's  defeat  in  consequence  of 
revolutionary  propaganda.  The  defeat  of  the  governmental  army  weakens  the  govern- 
ment, aids  the  liberation  of  the  nationalities  oppressed  by  it,  and  makes  civil  war 
against  the  ruling  classes  easier.  {Ibid.,  p.  149.) 

22.  Lenin  called  attention  to  the  importance  of  military  reverses  as 
a  means  of  facilitating  civil  war. 

Civil  War  Facilitated  by  Military  Reverses 

Revolution  in  war  time  is  civil  war.  Transformation  of  war  between  governments 
into  civil  war  is,  on  the  one  hand,  facilitated  by  military  reverses  (defeats)  of  the 
government ;  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  impossible  to  strive  in  practice  towards  such  a 
transformation  without  at  the  same  time  working  towards  military  defeat.  {Ibid., 
p.  198.) 

23.  lie  urged  that  advantage  be  taken  of  the  difficulties  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  order  to  break  civil  peace. 

Breaking  Civil  Peace 

The  only  policy  of  a  real,  not  verbal,  breaking  of  "civil  peace,"  of  accepting  the 
class  struggle,  is  for  the  proletariat  to  take  advantage  of  the  difficulties  of  the  govern- 
ment and  its  bourgeoisie  with  the  aim  of  overthrowing  them.  (Ibid.,  p.  200.) 

24.  He  further  stressed  civil  war  and  mass  action  as  the  only  possible 
road  to  socialism. 

Civil  War  for  Socialism 

Do  not  trust  any  high-sounding  programmes,  we  say  to  the  masses ;  rely  on  your 
own  mass  revolutionary  actions  against  your  government  and  your  bourgeoisie,  try  to 
develop  such  actions ;  there  is  no  escape  from  barbarism,  there  is  no  possibility  for 
progress  in  Europe  outside  of  civil  Avar  for  Socialism.  (Ibid.,  p.  207.) 

25.  Lenin  proposed  that  civil  war  be  incorporated  into  the  party 
program. 

Civil  War  or  Revolutionary  Mass  Action 

In  our  opinion  the  Left  must  come  forth  with  a  general  declaration  of  ideas  which 
would  *  *  *  offer  a  programme  of  revolutionary  actions  (whether  to  say  civil  war  or 
revolutionary  mass  action  is  not  so  important  after  all)    *  *   *    (Ibid.,  p.  208.) 

26.  It  was  Lenin's  opinion  that  all  consistent  class  struggle  in  time 
of  war  leads  inevitably  to  civil  war. 

Actions  Leading  to  Civil  War 

Our  duty  is  to  help  make  these  (revolutionary)  sentiments  conscious,  to  deepen 
them  and  give  them  form.  The  only  correct  expression  of  this  task  is  the  slogan  "Turn 
the  imperialist  war  into  civil  war."  All  consistent  class  struggle  in  time  of  war,  all 
"mass  actions"  earnestly  conducted  must  inevitably  lead  to  this.  (Ibid.,  p.  232.) 


210  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

27.  Lenin's  support  for  the  policy  of  ushering  in  civil  war  during  a 
so-called  imperialist  war  dates  tack  to  his  agitation  within  the  Russian 
Socialist  Party. 

Revolutionary  Marxism,  Mass  Revolutionary  Action,  Civil  War 

It  is  the  chief  task  of  the  Social-Democratic  opposition  at  the  present  moment 
to  raise  the  banner  of  revolutionary  Marxism,  to  tell  the  workers  firmly  and  definitely 
how  to  look  upon  imperialist  wars,  to  put  forth  the  slogan  of  mass  revolutionary  action, 
i.e.,  to  turn  the  period  of  imperialist  war  into  the  beginning  of  a  period  of  civil  wars. 
(Ibid.,  p.  248.) 

28.  Lenin  planned  the  use  of  armed  force  against  other  non- 
Communist  states  by  the  country  in  which  the  revolution  had  been  suc- 
cess fid. 

Use  of  Armed  Forces  for  Attack  on  Capitalist  World 

The  victorious  proletariat  of  that  country,  having  expropriated  the  capitalists 
and  organized  Socialist  production  at  home,  would  rise  against  the  rest  of  the  capitalist 
world,  attracting  the  oppressed  classes  of  other  countries,  raising  among  them  revolts 
against  the  capitalists,  launching,  in  case  of  necessity,  armed  forces  against  the 
exploiting  classes  and  their  states.  (Ibid.,  p.  272.) 

29.  In  the  plainest  terms  Lenin  advised  members  of  the  armed  forces 
to  use  their  weapons  against  their  own  government. 

Use  of  Arms  Against  Your  Own  Government 

Tomorrow  you  are  deprived  of  the  election  ballot,  you  are  given  a  rifle  and  a 
splendid  machine  gun  equipped  according  to  the  last  word  of  machine  technique — take 
this  weapon  of  death  and  destruction,  do  not  listen  to  the  sentimental  whiners  who 
are  afraid  of  war.  Much  has  been  left  to  the  world  that  must  be  destroyed  by  fire  and 
iron  for  the  liberation  of  the  working  class.  And  if  bitterness  and  despair  grow  in  the 
masses,  if  a  revolutionary  situation  is  at  hand,  prepare  to  organize  new  organizations 
and  utilize  these  so  useful  weapons  of  death  and  destruction  against  your  own  govern- 
ment and  your  bourgeoisie.  (Ibid.,  p.  316.) 

30.  The  continuity  and  modern  validity  of  Marx'  and  Engels'  advoc- 
acy of  force  and  violence  is  shoiv  by  Lenin  in  the  following  passage: 

Forceful  Struggle  and  Its  Techniques 

Marx  and  Engels,  in  1847,  while  living  abroad  *  *  *  appealed  for  revolution  ; 
they  openly  and  directly  spoke  of  applying  force.  *  *  *  Either  we  are  really  and  firmly 
convinced  that  the  war  is  creating  a  revolutionary  situation  in  Europe,  that  all  the 
economic  and  social-political  circumstances  of  the  imperialist  epoch  lead  up  to  a  revo- 
lution of  the  proletariat — then  it  is  our  bounden  duty  to  explain  to  the  masses  the 
necessity  of  a  revolution,  to  appeal  for  it,  to  create  befitting  organizations,  to  speak 
fearlessly  and  in  the  most  concrete  manner  of  the  various  methods  of  forceful  struggle 
and  of  its  technique  *   *   *."  (Ibid.,  pp.  346,  347.) 

31.  Lenin  explained  clearly  the  functions  of  the  Soviets  as  organs 
of  insurrection. 

Soviets  as  Organs  of  Insurrection 

Soviets  of  Workers'  Deputies,  etc.,  must  be  looked  upon  as  organs  of  insurrec- 
tion, as  organs  of  revolutionary  power.  (Ibid.,  p.  357.) 

32.  He  categorically  rejected  the  possibility  of  a  peaceful  seizure  of 
power. 

This  essence  of  the  matter  is  that  at  present  power  can  no  longer  be  seized  peace- 
fully. (Collected  Works  of  V.  I.  Lenin,  vol.  XXI,  book  I,  Toward  the  Seizure  of  Power 
(International  Publishers,  New  York,  1932),  p.  45.  Translated  by  Moissaye  J.  Olgin.) 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  211 

33.  Lenin  outlined  historically  the  role  of  an  armed  and  organized 
minority  in  imposing  its  will  upon  the  unorganized  majority. 

Armed  Uprising.  Armed  Minority  Versus  Majority.  Class  Struggle  in 
Form  of  Civil  War 

A  revolution,  furthermore,  is  distinguished  from  the  "normal  situation"  in  a  state 
in  that  the  controversial  state  questions  are  decided  directly  by  the  struggle  of  classes 
and  masses,  including  the  armed  uprising.  It  cannot  be  otherwise,  once  the  masses  are 
free  and  armed  *  *  *.  Beginning  with  the  Peasant  War  in  the  Middle  Ages  in  Ger- 
many, through  all  the  large-scale  revolutionary  movements  and  epochs  up  to  184S  and 
1871,  and  further  up  to  1905,  we  see  innumerable  examples  of  how  the  more  organized, 
more  class-conscious,  better  armed  minority  forces  its  will  upon  the  majority  and  is 
victorious  over  it. 

Friedrich  Engels  particularly  emphasized  the  lessou  of  the  experiences  which  to 
some  degree  make  the  peasant  uprising  of  the  sixteenth  century  identical  to  the  1848 
Revolution  in  Germany,  namely  the  desultory  character  of  the  actions,  the  absence  of 
centralization  among  the  oppressed  masses,  which  is  due  to  their  petty-bourgeois 
status  in  life.  Approaching  the  matter  from  this  angle  we  arrived  at  the  same  conclu- 
sion. A  plain  majority  of  the  petty-bourgeois  masses  decides  nothing,  and  can  decide 
nothing.   *  *  * 

It  is  well  known  that  in  the  long  run  the  problems  of  social  life  are  decided  by 
the  class  struggle  in  its  bitterest,  sharpest  form,  namely,  in  the  form  of  civil  war.  {Ibid., 
pp.  68  and  69.) 

34.  Citing  Karl  Marx  on  uprising  as  an  ''art/'  Lenin  recalled  the 
need  of  popularizing  armed  uprising. 

Preparations  for  Armed  Uprising  Without  Press  Commitment. 

Uprising  as  an  Art 

What  we  are  concerned  with  is  not  the  "day"  of  the  uprising,  not  the  "moment" 
of  the  uprising  in  the  narrow  sense  of  the  word.  This  will  be  decided  by  the  common 
voice  of  those  who  are  in  contact  with  the  workers  and  soldiers,  with  the  masses.  *   *   * 

What  matters  is  that  we  must  make  the  task  clear  to  the  party,  place  on  the  order 
of  the  day  the  armed  uprising  in  Petrograd  and  Moscow  (including  their  regions),  the 
conquest  of  power,  the  overthrow  of  the  government.  We  must  think  of  how  to  make 
propaganda  in  favor  of  this  without  committing  ourselves  in  the  press. 

We  must  recall  and  ponder  the  words  of  Marx  on  uprising  :  "Uprising  is  an  art." 
etc.  (Ibid.,  p.  222.) 

35.  He  adds  the  following  from  a  letter  to  the  Central  Committee  of 
the  Social-Democratic  Labor  Party  of  Russia,  of  which  he  was  a  member: 

Uprising  as  an  Art.  Organize  Insurrectionary  Detachments 
MARXISM  AND  UPRISING 

(Letter  to  the  Central  Committee  of  the  Social-Democratic  Labor  Party) 

Among  the  most  vicious  and  perhaps  most  widespread  distortions  of  Marxism 
practiced  by  the  prevailing  "Socialist"  parties,  is  to  be  found  the  opportunist  lie  which 
says  that  preparations  for  an  uprising,  and  generally  the  treatment  of  an  uprising  as 
an  art  is  "Blanquism."  *  *   * 

To  accuse  Marxists  of  Blanquism  for  treating  uprising  as  an  art !  Can  there  be 
a  more  flagrant  distortion  of  the  truth,  when  there  is  not  a  single  Marxist  who  denies 
that  it  was  Marx  who  expressed  himself  in  the  most  definite,  precise  and  categorical 
manner  on  this  score ;  that  it  was  Marx  who  called  uprisings  nothing  but  an  art,  who 
said  that  uprising  must  be  treated  as  an  art,  that  one  must  gain  the  first  success  and 
then  proceed  from  success  to  success  without  stopping  the  offensive  against  the  enemy 
and  making  use  of  his  confusion,  etc.,  etc.  (The  definition  of  uprising  as  an  art  is  given 
in  Revolution  and  Counterrevolution  in  Germany;  the  book  was  written  not  by  Mars, 
as  was  thought  for  a  long  time  to  be  the  case,  but  by  Engels  (footnote  No.  83),  ibid., 
p.  300.) 

To  refuse  to  treat  the  uprising  as  an  art  means  to  betray  Marxism  and  the  revo- 
lution. *   *   * 

Having  recognized  the  absolute  necessity  of  an  uprising  of  the  workers  of  Petro- 
grad and  Moscow  for  the  sake  of  saving  the  revolution  and  of  saving  Russia  from  being 


212  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

"separately"  divided  among  the  imperialists  of  both  coalitions,  we  must  first  adapt  our 
political  tactics  at  the  conference  to  the  conditions  of  the  maturing  uprising  ;  secondly, 
we  must  prove  that  we  accept,  and  not  only  in  words,  the  idea  of  Marx  about  the  neces- 
sity of  treating  uprising  as  an  art.  *  *  * 

And  in  order  to  treat  uprising  in  a  Marxist  way,  i.e.  as  an  art,  we  must  at  the 
same  time,  without  losing  a  single  moment,  organize  the  staff  of  the  insurrectionary 
detachments ;  designate  the  forces ;  move  the  loyal  regiments  to  the  most  important 
points ;  surround  the  Alexander  Theatre ;  occupy  Peter  and  Paul  Fortress ;  arrest  the 
general  staff  and  the  government ;  move  against  the  military  cadets,  the  Wild  Division, 
etc.,  such  detachments  as  will  die  rather  than  allow  the  enemy  to  move  to  the  centre 
of  the  city  ;  we  must  mobilize  the  armed  workers,  call  them  to  a  last  desperate  battle, 
occupy  at  once  the  telegraph  and  telephone  stations,  place  our  staff  of  the  uprising  at 
the  central  telephone  station,  connect  it  by  wire  with  all  the  factories,  the  regiments, 
the  points  of  armed  fighting,  etc. 

Of  course,  this  is  all  by  way  of  example,  to  illustrate  the  idea  that  at  the  present 
moment  it  is  impossible  to  remain  loyal  to  the  revolution  without  treating  uprising  as 
an  art.—N.  Lenin.  (Ibid.,  pp.  224,  227,  228,  and  229.) 

36.  He  analyzed  the  nature  of  civil  war  from  the  eighteenth  century 
on,  urging  the  futility  of  reliance  upon  parliamentary  means,  as  shown 
by  this  analysis. 

Civil  War  as  Sharpest  Form  of  Class  Struggle.  Extraparliamentary  Struggle 

This  experience,  in  full  accord  with  the  experience  of  all  the  European  revolu- 
tions, from  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  on,  shows  us  that  civil  war  is  the  sharpest 
form  of  the  class  struggle,  it  is  that  point  in  the  class  struggle  when  clashes  and  battles, 
economic  and  political,  repeating  themselves,  growing,  broadening,  becoming  acute, 
turn  into  an  armed  struggle  of  one  class  against  another  class.  Most  often — one  may 
say  almost  always — there  is  to  be  observed  in  all  more  or  less  free  and  advanced 
countries  a  civil  war  between  those  classes  whose  contradictory  positions  towards  each 
other  is  created  and  deepened  by  the  entire  economic  development  of  capitalism,  by 
the  entire  history  of  modern  society  the  world  over,  namely,  between  the  bourgeoisie 
and  the  proletariat.  *   *   * 

Such  are  the  facts.  Such  is  the  history  of  our  own  revolution.  We  must  learn 
most  of  all  from  this  history,  we  must  ponder  most  of  all  on  its  course  and  its  class 
meaning.  *  *  * 

A  comparison  of  the  data  concerning  "parliamentary"  elections  with  the  data 
concerning  the  above-named  mass  movements,  fully  corroborates,  as  far  as  Russia  is 
concerned,  an  observation  often  made  in  the  West,  namely,  that  the  strength  of  the 
revolutionary  proletariat,  from  the  point  of  view  of  influencing  the  masses  and  drawing 
them  into  the  struggle,  is  incomparably  larger  in  the  extraparliamentary  than  in  the 
parliamentary  struggle.  This  is  a  very  important  observation  as  regards  civil  war. 
(Ibid.,  pp.  231  and  234.) 

37.  The  following  exhibit  presented  as  a  model  and  guide,  shows 
the  precision  with  which  Lenin  prepared  for  armed  uprising. 

Military  Preparation  for  Overthrow 

(Letter  to  I.  T.  Smilga,  chairman  of  the  Regional  Committee  of  the  Army,  Navy 
and  Workers  of  Finland  (in  Helsingfors)  by  Lenin,  October  10,  1917:) 

I  think  you  must  utilize  your  high  position,  shift  to  the  assistants  and  secretaries 
all  the  petty  routine  work  without  wasting  time  on  "resolutions,"  but  giving  all  your 
attention  to  the  military  preparation  of  the  troops  in  Finland  plus  the  fleet  for  the 
impending  overthrow  of  Kerensky.  You  must  create  a  secret  committee  of  trustworthy 
military  men,  together  with  them  discuss  matters  thoroughly,  collect  (and  personally 
verify)  the  most  accurate  data  concerning  the  composition  and  location  of  troops 
near  and  in  Petrograd,  the  transfer  of  troops  in  Finland  to  Petrograd,  the  movement 
of  the  navy,  etc.  (Ibid.,  pp.  265  and  266.  Lenin  advised  Smilga  to  burn  this  letter. 
Smilga  kept  the  letter,  only  tearing  from  it  the  name  of  the  sender,  out  of  consideration 
of  conspiracy  (footnote) ,  ibid.,  p.  303.) 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  213 

38.  Lenin  advised  a  sudden  attack  from  several  strategic  points  and 
the  armed  seizure  of  certain  key  buildings. 

Armed  Uprising.  Sudden  Attack.  Seizure  of  Public  Buildings 

The  victory  of  the  uprising  is  now  secure  for  the  Bolsheviks;  (1)  we  can  *  *  * 
(if  we  do  not  "await"  the  Soviet  Congress)  launch  a  sudden  attack  from  three  points, 
from  Petrograd,  from  Moscow,  from  the  Baltic  fleet;  (2)  we  have  slogans  whose  sup- 
port is  guaranteed  ;  down  with  the  government  that  suppresses  the  uprising  of  the 
peasants  against  the  landowners ;  (3)  we  have  a  majority  in  the  country ;  (4)  com- 
plete disorganization  of  the  Mensheviks  and  S.R.'s;  (5)  we  are  technically  in  a  posi- 
tion to  seize  power  in  Moscow  (which  might  even  be  the  one  to  start,  so  as  to  deal  the 
enemy  a  surprise  blow)  ;  (6)  we  have  thousands  of  armed  workers  and  soldiers  in 
Petrograd  who  can  seize  at  once  the  Winter  Palace,  the  General  Staff  Building,  the 
telephone  exchange  and  all  the  largest  printing  establishments.  *   *   * 

If  we  were  to  attack  at  once,  suddenly  from  three  points,  in  Petrograd,  Moscow, 
and  the  Baltic  fleet,  there  are  ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  chances  that  we  would 
gain  a  victory.  *  *  *  If  with  chances  like  the  present,  we  do  not  seize  power,  then 
all  talk  of  Soviet  rule  becomes  a  lie.  (Ibid.,  pp.  277  and  278.) 

39.  Again  Lenin  repeats  his  emphasis  on  the  nature  of  the  Soviets 
as  organs  of  insurrection. 

Soviets  as  Organs  of  Insurrection 

The  question,  then,  is :  "What  is  to  be  the  work  of  the  Soviets  of  Workers' 
Deputies?  We  repeat  what  we  once  said  on  No.  47  of  the  Geneva  Social-Democrat 
(October  13,  1915)  :  "They  must  be  regarded  as  organs  of  insurrection,  as  organs  of 
revolutionary  power."  {Collected  Works  of  V.  I.  Lenin,  vol.  XX,  book  I,  The  Revo- 
lution of  1917  (International  Publishers,  New  York,  1929),  translated  by  Joshua 
Kunitz  and  Moissaye  J.  Olgin,  p.  49.) 

40.  Here  Lenin  shows  how  Marx'  advice  to  smash  the  ready-made 
state  machinery  was  actually  carried  out. 

Destruction  of  State  Machinery 

The  proletariat,  however,  if  it  wants  to  preserve  the  gains  of  the  present  revo- 
lution and  to  proceed  further  to  win  peace,  bread,  and  freedom,  must  "destroy,"  to 
use  Marx'  word,  this  "ready-made"  state  machinery.  *  *  * 

I  have  said  that  the  workers  have  smashed  the  old  state  machinery.  To  be  more 
precise :  They  have  begun  to  smash  it.  *  *  *  The  police  of  Petrograd  and  many  other 
places  have  been  partly  killed  off,  and  partly  removed.  (Hid.,  p.  50.) 

41.  Lenin  specifies  that  in  the  course  of  shattering  the  government 
apparatus,  the  army,  the  police,  and  the  bureaucracy  he  destroyed. 

Eliminate  Government  in  All  Burgeois  States 

In  the  foregoing  letters  the  tasks  of  the  revolutionary  proletariat  of  Russia  have 
been  outlined  as  follows  *  *  *  (4)  it  must  shatter  and  completely  eliminate  the  old 
government  apparatus  prevailing  in  all  the  bourgeois  countries,  the  army,  the  police, 
the  bureaucracy,  putting  in  its  place  (5)  not  only  a  mass  organization  but  an  organ- 
ization of  a  universally  armed  people  *  *  *.  (Ibid.,  p.  63.) 

42.  During  World  War  I,  Lenin  showed  that  the  Soviet  Govern- 
ment must  he  the  initiator  of  civil  war  in  other  countries. 

Civil  War.  Russian  Workers,  the  Initiators 

THE  REVOLUTION  IN  KUSSIA  AND  THE  TASK  OF  THE  WORKERS  OF  ALE  COUNTRIES 

Comrade-Workers : 

*  *  *  The  imperialist  war,  i.  e.,  the  war  for  the  division  of  spoils  among  the 
capitalists,  for  the  crushing  of  weak  peoples,  has  begun  to  change  into  civil  war,  i.  e., 
a  war  of  the  workers  against  the  capitalists  *   *   *. 

The  honor  and  the  good  fortune  of  being  the  initiators  of  the  revolution,  i.e., 
of  the  great,  the  only  legitimate  and  just  war,  the  war  of  the  oppressed  against  the 
oppressors,  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  the  Russian  workers.  Ibid.,  p.  64. 


214  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

43.  Lenin  counseled  the  overthrow  not  only  of  kings  but  also  of 
democratic  governments  which  he  called  bourgeois. 

Overthrow  of  Bourgeois  Governments 

We  must  tell  the  workers  and  soldiers  in  a  simple,  popular  language,  free  of 
learned  words,  that  it  is  their  duty  to  overthrow  not  only  Wilhelm,  but  the  English 
and  the  Italian  kings  as  well.  That  is  the  first  thing.  Secondly  and  chiefly,  it  is  their 
duty  to  overthrow  the  bourgeois  governments.   *   *   *  Ibid.,  p.  72. 

44.  Again  and  again  he  tried  to  drive  home  Marx's  dictum  regard- 
ing the  necessity  of  smashing  the  state  machinery. 

Necessity  to  Smash  the  State  Machine.  Armed  Workers 

Marx  teaches  us,  on  the  basis  of  the  experience  of  the  Commune  of  1871,  that 
"the  working  class  cannot  simply  lay  hold  of  the  ready-made  state-machine  and  make 
it  serve  its  own  purposes."  Karl  Marx,  The  Civil  War  in  France,  p.  80,  noted  ibid., 
p.  356. 

The  proletariat  must  smash  this  machine  (the  army,  the  police,  the  bureaucracy). 
It  is  this  that  the  opportunists  are  denying  and  minimizing.  This  is  the  most  impor- 
tant practical  lesson  to  be  learned  from  the  Paris  Commune  and  the  Russian  Revolu- 
tion of  1905.  *  *  * 

But  we  differ  from  the  opportunists  and  the  Kautskians  in  that  we  insist  that 
we  do  not  need  a  "ready-made"  state-machine  as  it  exists  in  democratic  bourgeois 
republics,  but  actual  power  in  the  hands  of  the  armed  and  organized  workers.  This  is 
the  state  that  we  need.  In  their  essence  the  Commune  of  1S71  and  the  Soviets  of 
Workers'  Deputies  in  Russia  in  1905  and  1917  were  just  such  a  state.  *  *  *  It  (the 
Soviet  Workers'  Deputies)  declares  that  it  has  no  confidence  in  all  the  bourgeois 
governments.  It  calls  upon  the  workers  of  the  world  to  overthrow  their  governments. 
Ibid.,  pp.  80  and  81. 

45.  Lenin  presents  here  a  clear  definition  of  a  Soviet  Government 
as  distinguished  from  other  governments  to  show  that  it  is  not  based 
upon  law  but  outright  seizure  of  power. 

Soviet  Dictatorship  Based  Upon  Outright  Revolutionary  Seizure,  Not  Upon  Law 
What  is  the  class  composition  of  that  other  government  (the  Soviet  of  Workers' 
and  Soldiers'  Deputies)  V  *  *  *  It  is  a  revolutionary  dictatorship,  i.e.,  it  is  a  power 
based  not  on  laws  made  by  a  centralized  state  power,  but  on  outright  revolutionary 
seizure.  *  *  *  It  is  a  power  quite  different  from  that  of  the  ordinary  type  of 
parliamentary  bourgeois-democratic  republic  that  is  still  prevalent  in  the  advanced 
countries  of  Europe  and  America.  *  *  *  The  fundamental  characteristics  of  this 
kind  of  power  are:  (1)  Its  origin  is  not  in  a  law  previously  considered  and  passed 
by  Parliament,  but  in  the  direct  initiative  of  the  masses  from  below,  everywhere ;  in 
outright  "seizure,"  to  use  a  popular  expression.   *   *   *  Ibid.,  p.  115. 

46.  Lenin  repeatedly  held  out  Karl  Liebknecht  as  a  model  to  revolu- 
tionists throughout  the  world  because  the  latter  had  urged  German 
soldiers  to  turn  their  guns  against  their  own  government. 

Turn  Guns  Upon  Own  Government 

Karl  Liebknecht  called  upon  the  workers  and  soldiers  of  Germany  to  turn  their 
guns  upon  their  own  government.  *  *  *  Liebknecht  alone  represents  Socialism,  the 
proletarian  cause,  the  proletarian  revolution.  Ibid.,  p.  148. 

47.  In  a  manner  similar  to  the  American  Communist  Party  of  recent 
years,  Lenin  pointed  out  that  under  certain  conditions  the  civil  war 
slogan  may  be  set  aside,  but  only  temporarily. 

Setting  Aside  Civil  War  Slogan  Temporarily 

One  must  know  how  to  look  from  the  Marxist  standpoint  which  says  that  the 
imperialist  war  will  turn  into  civil  war  as  a  result  of  objective  conditions  and  not 
as  a  result  of  subjective  desires.  For  the  time  being  we  lay  aside  this  slogan,  but  only 
for  the  time  being.  Ibid.,  p.  279. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  215 

48.  Designating  the  Soviets  as  agencies  based  upon  direct  and  open 
force  rather  than  law,  Lenin  called  them  the  central  force  of  the  revolu- 
tion. Today  we  find  similar  bodies  being  set  up  in  various  countries  on 
the  eve  of  revolutionary  coups  and  known  as  "action  committees." 

Soviets  of  Workers  and  Soldiers  Rests  Upon  Force,  Not  Law 

The  Soviets  of  Workers'  and  Soldiers'  Deputies,  spreading  the  network  of  their 
organization  over  all  of  Russia  are  at  this  moment  the  central  force  of  the  revolution. 
*  *  *  Such  power  is  a  dictatorship,  i.e.,  it  rests  not  on  the  law,  not  on  the  formal 
will  of  the  majority,  but  on  direct  and  open  force.  Force  is  the  instrument  of  power. 
Hid.,  p.  281. 

49.  While  Lenin  did  not  completely  disapprove  of  the  policy  of 
the  Paris  Commune  of  1793  in  guillotining  the  riders  of  France,  he 
thought  that  mass  arrests  would  be  sufficient  in  the  twentieth  century. 
His  present-day  exponents  have  not  hesitated,  however,  to  resort  to 
methods  similar  to  those  of  the  Paris  Commune. 

Arrest  Capitalists 

The  Jacobins  of  1793  were  the  representatives  of  the  most  revolutionary  class 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  city  and  country  poor.  Against  this  class  that  had 
actually  (not  merely  in  words)  done  away  with  their  monarch,  with  their  landowners, 
with  their  moderate  bourgeoisie  by  means  of  the  most  revolutionary  measures,  includ- 
ing the  guillotine,  against  this  truly  revolutionary  class  of  the  eighteenth  century  the 
combined  monarchs  of  Europe  were  waging  war.  *  *  *  This  example  of  the  Jacobins 
is  instructive.  It  has  not  yet  become  obsolete,  except  that  it  should  be  applied  to  the 
revolutionary  class  of  the  twentieth  century,  to  the  proletarians  and  semiproletarians. 
For  to  this  class,  in  the  present  twentieth  century  the  enemies  of  the  people  are  not 
the  monarchs,  but  the  landowners  and  the  capitalists  as  a  class.  *  *  * 

The  "Jacobins"  of  the  twentieth  century  would  not  guillotine  the  capitalist ; 
following  a  good  example  does  not  necessarily  require  imitating  it.  It  would  be  suf- 
ficient to  arrest  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  magnates  and  bank  leaders.  *  *  *  (Collected 
Works  of  V.  I.  Lenin,  vol.  XX.  book  II,  The  Revolution  of  1917  (International  Pub- 
lishers, New  York,  1929),  p.  226.) 

50.  Communist  philosophy  and  theory  calls  for  the  establishment 
of  a  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat.  Lenin  defines  such  a  dictatorship  as 
based  upon  force  and  unrestricted  by  law.  He  specifically  shows  that  this 
approach  applies  to  America. 

Dictatorship  is  rule  based  directly   upon  force  and  unrestricted   by   any   laws. 

Dictatorship  of  Proletariat  Maintained  by  Violence  Unrestricted  by  Law. 
Violence  Against  Bourgeoisie.  Application  to  America 

The  revolutionary  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  is  rule  won  and  maintained 
by  the  use  of  violence  by  the  proletariat  against  the  bourgeoisie,  rule  that  is  unre- 
stricted by  any  law.  *   *   * 

The  proletarian  revolution  is  impossible  without  the  forcible  destruction  of  the 
bourgeois  state  machine.  *   *   * 

And,  the  question  having  been  put,  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  reply  :  the 
revolutionary  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  is  violence  against  the  bourgeoisie  ;  and 
the  necessity  for  such  violence  is  particularly  created,  as  Marx  and  Engels  have  repeat- 
edly explained  in  detail  (especially  in  The  Civil  War  in  France  and  in  the  preface 
to  it),  by  the  existence  of  a  military  and  a  bureaucracy.  But  it  is  precisely  these 
institutions  that  were  nonexistent  in  England  and  America  in  the  1870's  when  Marx 
made  his  observations  (they  do  exist  in  England  and  in  America  now).  ( V.  I.  Lenin, 
Collected  Works,  vol.  XXIII,  1918-19  (International  Publishers,  New  York,  1945), 
pp.  354,  355,  and  356.) 

51.  Lenin's  teachings  were  used  as  a  guide  in  teaching  the  need  of 
insurrection  to  American  workers.  By  way  of  example  wi  ciU  I  he  fol- 
lowing from  a  pamphlet  published  by  the  Trade  Union  Educational 
League,  then  headed  by  William  Z.  Foster,  who  is  now  chairman  of  the 


216  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

Communist  Party,  U.  8.  A.  The  author  of  the  pamphlet  is  A.  Losovsky, 
now  director  of  the  information  bureau  attached  to  the  Soviet  Council 
of  Ministers,  who  was  then  head  of  the  Red  International  of  Trade- 
Unions. 

Technical  Preparation  for  Armed  Insurrection 

Lenin  conceived  of  the  revolution  as  of  something  that  was  moving  right  upon 
us,  and  not  as  something  lying  in  a  far-off  distance.  Because  of  this  he  never  tired  of 
insisting  that  we  must  prepare  ourselves  daily  for  the  revolution,  even  politically  and 
technically.  The  political  preparation  consisted  in  training  the  masses  for  action 
through  everyday  struggle.  Lenin  used  to  say  :  "The  most  important  thing  is  to  bring 
the  masses  in  motion,  thereby  enabling  them  to  accumulate  experiences  within  a 
short  period  of  time."  The  revolution  confronts  us  directly  with  the  problem  of  armed 
insurrection.  And  to  speak  of  this  without  proper  technical  preparations,  is  merely 
to  mouth  empty  phrases.  He  who  wants  the  revolution  must  systematically  prepare 
for  it  the  broad  masses,  who  will,  in  the  process  of  preparation,  create  the  necessary 
organs  of  the  struggle.  *  *  * 

The  Mensheviks  were  fond  of  ridiculing  the  idea  of  technical  preparations  for 
an  armed  insurrection.  According  to  their  conception  the  center  of  gravity  would  lie 
in  the  sphere  of  propaganda,  of  arming  the  minds  of  the  workers.  To  this  Lenin's 
reply  was :  "He  who  refuses  technically  to  prepare  for  the  insurrection  ultimately 
rejects  the  insurrection  itself,  and  transforms  the  program  of  the  revolution  into  an 
empty  phrase."  (Lenin,  The  Great  Strategist  of  the  Class  War,  by  A.  Losovsky  (Trade 
Union  Educational  League,  1113  West  Washington  Street,  Chicago,  Illinois ;  Septem- 
ber 1924),  p.  17.) 

52.  Lenin  was  no  mere  theorist  in  his  advocacy  of  force  and  vio- 
lence. He  insisted  upon  his  followers  learning  the  use  of  arms  and  actu- 
ally using  them. 

Use  of  Arms  by  Proletariat 

An  oppressed  class  which  does  not  strive  to  learn  how  to  use  arms,  to  acquire 
arms,  deserves  to  be  treated  like  slaves.  We  cannot  forget,  unless  we  become  bourgeois 
pacifists  or  opportunists,  that  we  are  living  in  a  class  society,  that  there  is  no  way 
out,  and  there  can  be  no  way  out,  but  the  class  struggle.  *  *   * 

Our  slogan  must  be  arming  of  the  proletariat  in  order  to  vanquish,  to  expro- 
priate and  to  disarm  the  bourgeoisie.  These  are  the  only  possible  tactics  a  revolution- 
ary class  can  adopt ;  these  tactics  follow  logically  from  the  whole  objective  develop- 
ment of  capitalist  militarism,  and  are  dictated  by  that  development.  (Lenin,  The  Mili- 
tary Program  of  the  Proletarian  Revolution,  reprinted  in  The  Communist,  vol.  XIV, 
January  1935,  p.  26.) 

53.  Lenin  declared  the  necessity  of  forcefully  suppressing  those 
opposed  to  the  Communist  dictatorship. 

Forceful  Suppression  of  Exploiters 

History  teaches  that  no  oppressed  class  has  ever  come  to  power  or  could  have 
come  to  power,  without  going  through  a  period  of  dictatorship,  that  is  the  conquest 
of  the  political  power  and  the  forceful  suppression  of  the  desperate,  savage  resistance 
which  is  always  offered  by  the  exploiters  and  which  stops  at  nothing — not  even  the 
greatest  crimes.  (Lenin  on  Bourgeois  Democracy  and  Proletarian  Dictatorship,  op. 
cit.,  The  Communist,  vol.  X,  No.  4,  April  1931,  p.  360.) 

54.  Lenin  outlined  the  course  of  revolutionary  development  from 
strikes  to  armed  uprising  and  civil  war. 

Armed  Uprising  Civil  War 

In  the  matter  of  tactical  leadership  of  the  revolutionary  struggle,  the  proletariat 
must  be  guided  by  two  basic  theses.  In  the  first  place,  Leninism  does  not  limit  the 
movement  to  any  one  particular  form  of  struggle  but  rather  strives  to  master  all 
forms.  Various  forms  of  proletarian  struggle  are  the  strike  movement,  demonstrations, 
parliamentary  struggle,  revolutionary  utilization  of  parliament  when  the  situation 
demands  it  and  also  the  higher  forms  of  struggle ;  armed  uprising,  civil  war,  dictator- 
ship of  the  proletariat.  In  the  second  place,  Leninism  approaches  the  problem  as  to 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  217 

what  particular  form  of  struggle  is  to  be  utilized,  historically,  in  connection  with  and 
taking  into  consideration  the  entire  concrete  situation.  In  the  choice  of  means  it  is 
necessary  to  show  the  greatest  flexibility.  (V.  Adoratsky  on  the  Theoretical  Founda- 
tions of  Marxism-Leninism,  The  Communist,  vol.  XI,  No.  5,  May  1932,  p.  469.) 

55.  In  the  following  passage  Lenin  showed  the  continuity  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  use  of  force  and  violence  from  1848  to  1915.  The  volume 
cited  herewith,  it  should  be  noted,  was  published  by  International  Pub- 
lishers, American  Communist  publishing  house,  in  1943,  long  after  the 
adoption  in  1938  of  the  constitution  of  the  Communist  Party,  TJ.  8.  A., 
which  sought  to  imply  denial  of  the  use  of  force  and  violence. 

Using  Force.  Coming  Insurrection 

*  *  *  the  famous  Manifesto  of  the  Communist  Party,  called  for  revolution  ; 
they  openly  and  directly  spoke  of  using  force ;  and  they  declared  the  attempt  to  hide 
revolutionary  aims,  tasks  and  methods  of  struggle  to  be  contemptible.  The  Revolution 
in  1848  proved  that  Marx  and  Engels  alone  had  approached  the  events  with  correct 
tactics.  Several  years  before  the  1905  Revolution  in  Russia,  Plekhanov,  then  still 
a  Marxist,  wrote  an  unsigned  article  in  the  old  Iskra  of  1901,  expressing  the  views 
of  all  the  editors  on  the  coming  insurrection,  on  ways  of  preparing  for  it,  such  as 
street  demonstrations,  and  even  on  technical  devices,  such  as  using  wire  in  the  fight 
against  the  cavalry-  The  revolution  in  Russia  proved  that  only  the  old  Iskra-ists  had 
approached  the  events  with  correct  tactics.  Now  we  are  faced  with  this  alternative ; 
either  we  are  really  and  firmly  convinced  that  the  war  is  creating  a  revolutionary 
situation  in  Europe,  that  all  the  economic  and  social-political  circumstances  of  the 
imperialist  epoch  are  leading  to  a  revolution  of  the  proletariat — in  that  case  we  are 
in  duty  bound  to  explain  to  the  masses  the  need  for  a  revolution,  to  call  for  it,  to  create 
the  necessary  organizations,  to  speak  fearlessly  and  in  the  most  concrete  manner  of 
the  various  methods  of  violent  struggle  and  of  its  "technique." 

In  Russia,  nobody  places  the  beginning  of  the  1905  Revolution  before  January 
22  (9),  1905,  whereas  revolutionary  propaganda,  in  the  very  narrow  sense  of  the 
word,  the  propaganda  and  the  preparation  of  mass  action,  demonstrations,  strikes, 
barricades,  had  been  conducted  for  years  before  that.  Selected  Works,  V.  I.  Lenin, 
vol.  V  (International  Publishers,  New  York,  1943),  Revolutionary  Marxists  at  the 
International  Socialist  Conference,  September  5-8,  1915,  pp.  228  and  230.) 

56.  Citing  Marx  and  Engels  as  his  authority,  Lenin  made  a  central 
point  of  the  need  for  smashing  the  army. 

Armed  Workers  Smash  the  Army 

Engels  wrote  that  in  France,  after  each  revolution  the  workers  were  armed. 
The  armed  workers  were  the  embryo  of  a  new  army,  the  nucleus  of  the  organization 
of  a  new  social  order.  The  first  commandment  of  every  victorious  revolution,  as  Marx 
and  Engels  repeatedly  emphasized,  was  :  smash  the  old  army,  dissolve  it  and  replace 
it  by  a  new  one.  In  rising  to  power,  the  new  social  class  never  could,  and  cannot  now, 
attain  power  or  consolidate  it  except  by  absolutely  disintegrating  the  old  army.  Ibid., 
What  Is  Internationalism,  p.  174.) 

57.  Lenin  excoriated  his  fellow  Socialists  prior  to  1917  for  failing 
to  appreciate  the  merits  of  revolutionary  violence.  His  words  are 
reprinted  by  the  Communists  today  as  the  acme  of  wisdom. 

Violence 

Hence,  to  talk  about  "violence"  in  general,  without  examining  the  conditions 
which  distinguish  reactionary  from  revolutionary  violence  means  being  a  petty 
bourgeois  who  renounces  revolution,  or  else  it  means  simply  deceiving  oneself  and 
others  by  sophistry.  The  same  holds  good  about  violence  against  nations.  Every  war 
is  the  exercise  of  violence  against  nations  hut  that  does  not  prevent  Socialists  from 
being  in  favour  of  a  revolutionary  war.  (Ibid.,  p.  175.) 


218  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

58.  Explicit  rules  and  instructions  dealing  with  what  he  termed  the 
art  of  insurrection  were  laid  down  by  Lenin. 

Insurrection  as  an  Art 

Now,  insurrection  is  an  art  quite  as  much  as  war  or  any  other  and  subject  to 
certain  rules  of  proceeding  which,  when  neglected,  will  produce  the  ruin  of  the  party 
neglecting  them.  Those  rules,  logical  deductions  from  the  nature  of  the  parties  and  the 
circumstances  one  has  to  deal  with  in  such  a  case,  are  so  plain  and  simple  that  the  short 
experience  of  1848  had  made  the  Germans  pretty  well  acquainted  with  them.  Firstly, 
never  play  with  insurrection  unless  you  are  fully  prepared  to  face  the  consequences 
of  your  play.  Insurrection  is  a  calculus  with  very  indefinite  magnitudes  the  value  of 
which  may  change  every  day  ;  the  forces  opposed  to  you  have  all  the  advantage  of 
organization,  discipline,  and  habitual  authority  ;  unless  you  bring  strong  odds  against 
them  you  are  defeated  and  ruined.  Secondly,  the  insurrectionary  career  once  entered 
upon,  act  with  the  greatest  determination,  and  on  the  offensive.  The  defensive  is  the 
death  of  every  armed  rising ;  it  is  lost  before  it  measures  itself  with  its  enemies.  Sur- 
prise your  antagonists  while  their  forces  are  scattering,  prepare  new  successes,  how- 
ever small,  but  daily  ;  keep  up  the  moral  ascendancy  which  the  first  successful  rising 
has  given  to  you  ;  rally  those  vacillating  elements  to  your  side  which  always  follow 
the  strongest  impulse,  and  which  always  look  out  for  the  safer  side;  force  your 
enemies  to  a  retreat  before  they  can  collect  their  strength  against  you  ;  in  the  words 
of  Danton,  the  greatest  master  of  revolutionary  policy  yet  known,  "de  L'audace,  de 
L'audace,  encore  de  L'audace!"  (Germany:  Revolution  and  Counter-Revolution) . 
(Ibid.,  Can  the  Bolsheviks  Retain  State  Tower,  pp.  291  and  202.) 

59.  On  August  20, 1918,  Lenin  sent  a  letter  addressed  to  "American 
workers"  which  was  widely  distributed  by  the  Communists  in  the  United 
States  and  has  since  been  reprinted  a  number  of  times.  We  quote  from 
this  letter: 

Civil  War  and  Terror.  Call  to  American  Workers 

For  the  class  struggle  in  revolutionary  times  has  always  inevitably  and  in  every 
country  taken  on  the  form  of  a  civil  war,  and  civil  war  is  unthinkable  without  the 
worst  kind  of  destruction,  without  terror  and  limitations  of  formal  democracy  in  the 
interests  of  the  war. 

The  American  people  has  a  revolutionary  tradition  adopted  by  the  best  repre- 
sentatives of  the  American  proletariat,  who  gave  repeated  expression  to  their  full 
solidarity  with  us,  the  Bolsheviks. 

But  now,  when  we  are  confronted  with  the  vastly  greater  task  of  the  overthrow 
of  capitalist  wage  slavery,  the  overthrow  of  the  ride  of  the  bourgeoisie — now  the 
representatives  and  defenders  of  the  bourgeoisie,  as  well  as  the  social-reformists, 
frightened  by  the  bourgeoisie  and  shunning  the  revolution,  cannot  understand  and 
do  not  want  to  understand  the  necessity  and  legality  of  civil  war. 

The  American  workers  will  not  follow  the  bourgeoisie.  They  will  be  with  us 
for  civil  war  against  the  bourgeoisie.  (A  pamphlet  published  by  the  International 
Publishers.  New  York,  Second  printing,  1935,  in  an  edition  of  100,000:  A  Letter  to 
American  Workers,  V.  I.  Lenin,  pp.  16  and  17.) 

60.  The  well-known  reporter  of  the  New  York  Times,  Cyrus  L.  Sulz- 
berger, has  shown  the  continuity  of  the  Leninist  line  on  force  and  vio- 
lence as  applied  at  the  present  time. 

Frightful  Collisions  With  Bourgeois  States 

At  a  party  congress  in  1919,  Lenin  proclaimed :  "We  are  living  not  merely  in  a 

but  in  a  system  of  states,  and  the  existence  of  the  Soviet  republic  side  by  side 
with  imperialist  states  for  a  long  time  is  unthinkable. 

"One  or  the  other  must  triumph  in  the  end.  And  before  that  end  supervenes, 
a  series  of  frightful  collisions  between  the  Soviet  republic  and  the  bourgeois  states 
will  be  inevitable." 

In  1920,  Lenin  addressing  the  Moscow  Communist  Party  nucleus  said  :  "*  *  *  As 
soon  as  we  are  strong  enough  to  defeat  capitalism  as  a  whole,  we  shall  take  it  by  the 
scruff  of  the  neck."  (New  York  Times  of  October  16,  1947,  p.  8,  from  an  article  by 
C.  L.  Sulzberger,  entitled  "World  Reds  Shoic  Continuity  of  Adherence  to  Leninism.) 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  219 

(C)   Joseph  Stalin 

As  Prime  Minister  of  the  Soviet  Government  and  as  the  secretary- 
general  of  the  leading  Communist  Party  of  the  world,  the  Communist 
Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  Joseph  Stalin  occupies  a  post  of  undisputed 
authority  in  the  international  Communist  movement. 

The  attitude  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  toward  him  is  one 
of  complete  idolatry,  as  indicated  by  the  following  statements  of  its 
leaders : 

In  the  whole  past  period,  Joseph  Stalin  has  made  the  most  invaluable  contribu- 
tions toward  helping  the  American  Communists  become  the  best  representatives  of 
the  interests  of  the  American  proletariat.  It  was  Stalin's  profound  contribution  to 
the  discussion  of  the  problems  of  the  American  working  class  which  armed  our  party 
in  the  struggle  against  the  treacherous  and  splitting  intrigue  of  the  Lovestone  clique. 
*  *  *  This  prepared  our  party  politically  to  take  the  lead  in  gathering  the  forces  of 
the  working  class  for  effective  organization  and  struggle.  *   *   * 

In  the  course  of  doing  this,  Stalin  enriched  our  party's  understanding  of  the 
fact  that  proletarian  internationalism  is  based  on  the  common  international  features 
of  capitalism  and  the  struggle  against  it.  *   *  * 

As  against  the  reactionary  efforts  of  social-democracy  to  chain  the  working 
class  to  support  of  the  imperialist  war,  the  policy  of  the  Soviet  Union,  led  by  Joseph 
Stalin,  teaches  the  workers  in  the  capitalist  countries  to  struggle  against  the  imperialist 
war,  to  develop  their  own  independent  class  policy,  to  strengthen  their  organizations 
and  positions,  and  to  develop  the  struggle  against  imperialism,  and  for  socialism. 
(Lenin  and  Proletarian  Internationalism,  by  Max  Weiss,  member,  National  Com- 
mittee, Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  in  The  Communist,  January,  1941,  pp.  31  and  34.) 

In  June,  1936,  and  in  May,  1938,  Joseph  Stalin  was  elected  to  the 
honorary  presidium  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.  The  March,  1943, 
issue  of  The  Communist  carries  greetings  to  Joseph  Stalin  as  ' '  Supreme 
Commander  in  Chief"  of  the  Red  Army  and  as  "Lenin's  best  collabora- 
tor, his  continuator  and  successor, ' '  and  as  ' '  the  greatest  of  war  captains 
of  our  time."  The  greeting  is  signed  by  Earl  Browder,  then  general 
secretary  of  the  American  party. 

The  leading  article  in  the  January,  1940,  issue  of  The  Communist  on 
Sixteen  Years  With  Lenin,  refers  to  Joseph  Stalin  as  "Lenin's  greatest 
disciple  and  closest  collaborator,"  who  vowed  to  "build  and  strengthen 
the  Communist  International,"  a  vow  which  "sounded  like  a  clarion 
call ' '  to  which  the  ' '  struggling  masses  in  all  countries  responded. ' ' 

1.  The  following  citations  on  force  and  violence  are  quoted  from 
the  standard  works  of  Joseph  Stalin.  In  large  measure  they  reiterate  the 
utterances  of  Marx,  Engels,  and  Lenin. 

Civil  War.  Dictatorship  Based  on  Force.  Incitement  to  Revolt  and  Armed 

Intervention  Against  Capitalist  World 

I  quote  Lenin  once  more  : 

"The  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  is  a  peculiar  form  of  class  alliance  between 
the  proletariat  (the  vanguard  of  all  those  who  labour)  and  the  various  strata  of  the 
nonproletarian  labouring  masses  (the  petty  bourgeoisie,  independent  artisans,  peas- 
ants, members  of  the  intelligentsia,  etc.)  or  with  the  majority  of  these  ;  it  is  an  alliance 
against  capital;  an  alliance  aiming  at  the  complete  overthrow  of  capital,  at  the 
crushing  of  bourgeois  resistance  and  the  frustrating  of  any  attempt  at  a  bourgeois 
restoration;  an  alliance  designed  for  the  establishment  and  the  definitive  consolidation 
of  socialism.  This  peculiar  form  of  alliance  is  entered  into  under  special  circumstances 
at  a  time  when  civil  war  is  raging;  it  is  an  alliance  between  the  convinced  supporters 
of  socialism  and  its  wavering  allies.  (Some  of  the  allies  may  be  'neutrals,'  and  then 
an  agreement  to  fight  may  be  replaced  by  an  agreement  to  maintain  neutrality.)  It 
is  an  alliance  between  classes  which  differ  economically,  politically,  socially,  and  ideo- 
logically"  (Works,  Russian  edition,  vol.  xvi,  p.  241.) 


220  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

With  reference  to  the  crushing  of  the  exploiters,  as  one  of  the  chief  aims  of  the 
dictatorship,  Lenin  writes : 

"Scientifically  defined,  a  dictatorship  is  an  authority  based  directly  on  force,  an 
authority  which  is  absolutely  unrestricted  by  any  laws  or  regulations.  *  *  *  The 
dictatorship  means  (let  the  cadets  grasp  the  fact  once  for  all!)  power,  unlimited 
power,  based  on  force  and  not  on  law.  When  civil  war  is  raging,  the  authority  of  the 
victors  cannot  be  anything  but  a  dictatorship."  *  *  *  (Works,  Russian  edition,  vol. 
xvii,  pp.  355  and  361.) 

Of  course,  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  does  not  mean  force  and  nothing 
else,  although  a  dictatorship  cannot  be  maintained  except  by  force.  To  quote  Lenin  : 

"The  dictatorship  does  not  mean  force  alone,  though  it  is  impossible  without 
force.  It  likewise  betokens  a  higher  organization  of  labour  than  has  previously  existed." 
(Works,  Russian  edition,  vol.  xvi,  p.  222.) 

"The  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  *  *  *  is  not  merely  the  exercise  of  force 
against  the  exploiters,  and  indeed  does  not  chiefly  consist  in  the  use  of  force.  The 
economic  basis  of  this  revolutionary  force,  the  guarantee  of  its  vitality  and  success 
is  that  the  proletariat  represents  and  realizes  a  type  of  social  organization  of  labour 
higher  than  that  represented  and  realized  by  the  capitalist  system.  That  is  the  main 
point.  Herein  lies  the  source  of  the  strength  of  Communism ;  wherein  we  find  assur- 
ance of  its  inevitable  victory  *  *  *."  (Works,  Russian  edition,  vol.  xvi,  pp.  247-248.) 

Let  us  turn  to  Lenin.  In  August,  1915,  more  than  two  years  before  the  October 
revolution,  he  said  : 

"Irregularity  in  economic  and  political  development  is  an  invariable  law  of 
capitalism.  It  is,  therefore,  possible  for  socialism  to  triumph  at  the  outset  in  a  small 
number  of  capitalist  countries,  nay,  even  in  one  alone.  The  victorious  proletariat  in 
such  a  land,  having  expropriated  the  capitalists  and  having  organized  socialist  pro- 
duction, would  rise  against  the  remainder  of  the  capitalist  world,  winning  over  to  its 
cause  the  oppressed  classes  in  other  lands,  inciting  them  to  revolt  against  the  capi- 
talists, and  even,  when  needs  must,  having  recourse  to  armed  intervention  against 
the  exploiting  classes  and  their  states."  (Works,  Russian  edition,  vol.  xiii,  p.  133.) 
(Leninism,  by  Joseph  Stalin  (International  Publishers,  New  York,  1928),  pp.  25, 
26,  27,  58,  and  59.) 

2.  Again,  Stalin,  the  present  undisputed  dictator  of  the  world  Com- 
munist movement,  validated  the  dicta  of  Marx,  Engels,  and  Lenin  on 
the  necessity  of  force  and  violence  to  accomplish  the  Communist  revo- 
lution. The  United  Stales  is  specifically  mentioned  as  no  exception  to 
this  formula. 

The  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  cannot  arise  as  the  outcome  of  the  peaceful 
development  of  bourgeois  society  and  bourgeois  democracy.  It  can  only  arise  as  the 
outcome  of  the  destruction  of  the  bourgeois  State  machine,  the  bourgeois  army,  the 
bourgeois  bureaucracy,  and  the  bourgeois  police  force. 

Marx  and  Engels,  guided  by  the  experience  of  the  Paris  Commune,  wrote  : 

"The  working  class  cannot  simply  lay  hold  of  the  ready-made  State  machinery 
and  wield  it  for  its  own  purposes."  (The  Civil  War  in  France,  Truelove,  London, 
1871,  p.  15.) 

Smash    Government    Machine.    United    States.    Force    Against    Bourgeois    State 
Machine.    Forcible    Destruction    of    Bourgeois    State    Machine.    Procedure 
After  Seizure  of  Power.  Liquidation  of  Classes.  Arm  the   Revolution 
Again  writing  to  Kugelmann  in  1871,  Marx  said  : 

"The  aim  of  the  proletarian  revolution  is  no  longer  (as  used  to  be  thought)  to 
transfer  the  bureaucratic  and  military  machine  from  one  set  of  hands  to  another,  but 
to  smash  that  machine.  This  is  the  indispensable  prerequisite  for  any  genuine  folk- 
revolution  on  the  continent. 

Marx's  reservation  "on  the  Continent"  has  given  the  opportunists  and  Men- 
sheviks  of  all  lands  the  chance  of  shouting  in  chorus  that  at  any  rate  as  regards  certain 
countries  that  were  not  on  the  continent  of  Europe  (Britain  and  the  United  States) 
he  conceded  the  possibility  of  the  peaceful  development  of  bourgeois  democracy  into 
proletarian  democracy.  Marx  did,  in  actual  fact,  admit  this  possibility  and  he  had  good 
reason  for  doing  so  in  regard  to  the  Britain  and  the  United  States  of  the  early  seventies, 
before  the  days  of  monopolist  capitalism  and  imperialism,  and  at  a  time  when  in  those 
countries  (owing  to  the  peculiar  conditions  of  their  development)  militarism  and 
bureaucracy  were  but  little  in  evidence.  That  was  at  an  epoch  when  imperialism  was 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  221 

in  its  infancy.  But  several  decades  later,  changed,  when  imperialism  had  grown  to  its 
full  stature  and  was  dominant  in  all  capitalist  countries  without  exception,  when 
militarism  and  bureaucracy  had  become  established  in  Britain  and  the  United  States 
as  well  as  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  when  the  exceptional  conditions  favourable 
to  a  peaceful  development  in  the  English-speaking  world  has  passed  away — then  Marx's 
reservation  "on  the  Continent"  had  become  obsolete,  and  what  he  said  of  continental 
Europe  applied  with  equal  force  to  Britain  and  the  United  States. 

In  1917,  Lenin  wrote : 

"Nowadays,  in  the  epoch  of  the  first  great  imperialist  war,  Marx's  reservation 
lapses.  Britain  and  the  United  States,  which  have  been  up  till  now  (thanks  to  their 
exemption  from  militarism  and  bureaucracy)  the  last  and  greatest  embodiments  of 
Anglo-Saxon  'freedom,'  have  at  length  come,  like  the  other  nations,  to  wallow  in  the 
foul  and  bloody  mire  of  bureaucratic  and  militarist  institutions,  which  establish  a 
universal  tyranny.  Today  in  Britain  and  the  United  States,  no  less  than  elsewhere, 
the  smashing,  the  destruction  of  'the  ready-made  State  machinery'  (which  in  those 
lands  has  during  the  years  1914-1917  achieved  the  same  imperialist  perfection  as  on 
the  continent  of  Europe)  'is  the  indispensable  prerequisite  of  any  genuine  folk-revolu- 
tion'." (Works,  Russian  edition,  vol.  xiv.,  pt.  II,  p.  327.) 

In  other  words,  as  far  as  the  imperialist  countries  are  concerned,  we  must  regard 
it  as  a  universally  applicable  law  of  the  revolutionary  movement  that  the  proletarian 
revolution  will  be  effected  by  force,  that  the  bourgeois  State  machine  will  have  to  be 
smashed,  as  an  indispensable  preliminary  to  the  revolution. 

No  doubt  in  the  distant  future,  if  the  proletariat  has  triumphed  in  the  chief 
countries  that  are  now  capitalist,  and  if  the  present  capitalist  encirclement  has  given 
place  to  a  socialist  encirclement,  it  will  be  possible  for  a  "peaceful"  transition  to  be 
effected  in  certain  capitalist  countries  where  the  capitalists,  in  view  of  the  "unfavour- 
able" international  situation  will  deem  it  advisable  "of  their  own  accord"  to  make 
extensive  concessions  to  the  proletariat.  But  this  is  to  look  far  ahead,  and  to  contem- 
plate extremely  hypothetical  possibilities.  As  concerns  the  near  future,  there  is  no 
warrant  for  any  such  expectations. 

That  is  why  Lenin  is  perfectly  right  when  he  says : 

"The  proletarian  revolution  cannot  take  place  without  the  forcible  destruction 
of  the  bourgeois  State  machine  and  its  replacement  by  a  new  machine."  (Works, 
Russian  edition,  vol.  xv.,  p.  453.)   (Ibid.,  pp.  116,  117,  118.) 

"The  question  of  power  is  the  fundamental  question  of  the  revolution"  (Lenin). 
Does  this  mean  that  the  only  thing  required  is  to  seize  power?  No,  it  does  not.  The 
seizure  of  power  is  only  the  beginning.  For  a  number  of  reasons  the  bourgeoisie  over- 
thrown in  one  country  remains  for  a  considerable  time  stronger  than  the  proletariat 
which  has  overthrown  it.  Therefore,  the  important  thing  is  to  retain  power,  to  con- 
solidate it  and  make  it  invincible.  What  is  required  to  attain  this  end?  At  least  three 
main  tasks  confronting  the  proletariat  "on  the  morrow"  of  victory  must  be  fulfilled. 
They  are : 

(a)  To  break  the  resistance  of  the  landed  proprietors  and  capitalists  now  over- 
thrown and  expropriated  by  the  revolution,  and  to  liquidate  every  attempt  they  make 
to  restore  the  power  of  capital ; 

(b)  To  organize  construction  in  such  a  way  as  will  rally  all  toilers  around  the 
proletariat  and  prepare  the  way  for  the  liquidation,  the  extinction  of  classes ; 

(c)  To  arm  the  revolution  and  to  organize  the  army  of  the  revolution  for  the 
struggle  against  the  external  enemy  and  for  the  struggle  against  imperialism.  (Ch.  IV 
from  Foundations  of  Leninism,  by  Joseph  Stalin,  published  by  the  International 
Publishers,  New  York,  1932,  pp.  44,  45.) 

3.  Stalin  considered  the  overthrow  of  our  system  as  inevitably  the 
result  of  resort  to  violence.  For  strategic  and  propagandists  reasons  he 
places  the  responsibility  for  such  measures  upon  those  who  oppose  the 
Communist  revolution. 

Violence 

Capitalism  is  decaying  but  it  must  not  be  compared  simply  with  a  tree  which 
has  decayed  to  such  an  extent  that  it  must  fall  to  the  ground  of  its  own  accord.  No, 
revolution,  the  substitution  of  one  social  system  for  another,  has  always  been  a 
struggle,  a  painful  and  a  cruel  struggle,  a  life  and  death  struggle.  And  every  time  the 
people  of  the  new  world  came  into  power  they  had  to  defend  themselves  against  the 
attempts  of  the  old  world  to  restore  the  old  order  by  force ;  these  people  of  the  new 


222  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

world  always  had  to  be  ou  the  alert,  always  had  to  be  ready  to  repel  the  attacks  of  the 
old  world  upon  the  new  system.  That  is  why  the  Communists  say  to  the  working  class : 
Answer  violence  with  violence ;  do  all  you  can  to  prevent  the  old  dying  order  from 
crushing  you  ;  do  not  permit  it  to  put  manacles  on  your  hands,  on  the  hands  with 
which  you  will  overthrow  the  old  system.  As  you  see,  the  Communists  regard  the  sub- 
stitution of  one  social  system  for  another,  not  simply  as  a  spontaneous  and  peaceful 
process  but  as  a  complicated,  long  and  violent  process.  Communists  cannot  ignore  facts. 
(Marxism  versus  Liberalism — An  Interview  of  Joseph  Stalin,  by  H.  G.  Wells  [Inter- 
national Publishers,  New  York,  1935],  pp.  16,  17.) 

4.  He  endorsed  Lenin's  prediction  as  to  the  sanguinary,  violent,  and 
military  phases  of  the  struggle  for  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat. 

Violent  Phases  of  Struggle.  Proletarian  Dictatorship  and  Civil  War 

That  is  why  Lenin  declares :  "The  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  is  the  fiercest, 
sharpest  and  most  merciless  war  of  the  new  class  against  its  more  powerful  enemy, 
the  bourgeoisie,  whose  resistance  is  increased  tenfold  by  its  overthrow.  *  *  *  The 
dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  is  a  stubborn  struggle — sanguinary  and  bloodless,  violent 
and  peaceful,  military  and  economic,  educational  and  administrative — against  the 
forces  and  traditions  of  the  old  society."  ("Left" — Communism).   *   *   * 

We  must,  therefore,  regard  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat,  the  transition 
from  capitalism  to  communism,  not  as  a  fleeting  period  replete  with  "super-revolu- 
tionary" deeds  and  decrees,  but  as  an  entire  historical  epoch  full  of  civil  wars  and 
external  conflicts,  of  persistent  organizational  work  and  economic  construction,  of 
attacks  and  retreats,  of  victories  and  defeats."  (Ch.  IV  from  Foundations  of  Leninism 
by  Joseph  Stalin,  published  by  the  International  Publishers,  New  York,  1932,  p.  47.) 

5.  Stalin  gave  his  fidl  endorsement  to  Marx'  prediction  regarding 
the  necessity  for  many  years  of  civil  war. 

Marx  on  Civil  War 

Marx  said  to  the  workers :  "You  will  have  to  go  through  fifteen,  twenty,  fifty 
years  of  civil  wars  and  conflicts  of  peoples,  not  only  to  change  the  conditions,  but  in 
order  to  change  yourselves  and  to  make  yourselves  capable  of  wielding  political  power." 
(Ibid.,  published  by  International  Publishers,  New  York,  1934,  in  an  edition  of  100,000, 
p.  49.) 

6.  Stalin  reiterated  that  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  can  only 
come  about  through  violent  revolution.  He  completely  discounted  the 
possibility  of  peaceful  change  in  this  direction.  Re  called  for  the  smash- 
ing of  the  state  machine  in  all  its  parts. 

Proletarian  Dictatorship  Based  on  Violence.  Peaceful  Development  Impossible 

The  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  does  not  arise  on  the  basis  of  the  bourgeois 
order ;  it  arises  while  this  order  is  being  torn  down,  after  the  overthrow  of  the  bour- 
geoisie, in  the  process  of  the  expropriation  of  the  landlords  and  capitalists,  during  the 
process  of  socialisation  of  the  principal  instruments  and  means  of  production,  in  the 
process  of  violent  proletarian  revolution.  The  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  is  a 
revolutionary  power  based  on  violence  against  the  bourgeoisie. 

To  put  it  briefly :  The  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  is  the  domination  of  the 
proletariat  over  the  bourgeoisie  untrammeled  by  law  and  based  on  violence  and  enjoying 
the  sympathy  and  support  of  the  toiling  and  exploited  masses  (Cf.  Lenin  State  and 
Revolution). 

Second  deduction :  The  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  cannot  come  about  as  a 
result  of  the  peaceful  development  of  bourgeois  society  and  of  bourgeois  democracy ; 
it  can  come  only  as  the  result  of  the  destruction  of  the  bourgeois  state  machine,  of 
the  bourgeois  army,  of  the  bourgeois  civil  administration,  and  of  the  bourgeois  police. 
{Ibid.,  pp.  50,  51,  52.) 

7.  He  repeated  that  the  necessity  for  smashing  the  government  mili- 
tary machine  applies  in  the  United  States.  He  considered  the  law  of 
violent  revolution  as  an  inevitable  part  of  the  law  of  revolution  in  such 
countries  as  the  United  States. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  223 

Smash  Military  Machine.  United  States.  Shattering  of  State  Machinery  in 

United  States.  Violent  Proletarian  Revolution 

In  his  letter  to  Kugelmann  (April  12,  1871)  Marx  wrote  that  the  task  of  the 
proletarian  revolution  must  "be  no  longer,  as  before,  to  transfer  the  bureaucratic- 
military  machine  from  one  hand  to  another,  but  to  smash  it,  and  that  is  essential  for 
every  real  people's  revolution  on  the  Continent"  (Letters  to  Dr.  Kugelmann,  Inter- 
national Publishers,  p.  123) . 

Marx  did  in  fact  concede  that  possibility,  and  he  had  good  grounds  for  doing  so 
in  regard  to  the  England  and  the  United  States  of  the  seventies  of  the  last  century 
when  monopoly  capitalism  and  imperialism  did  not  yet  exist  and  when  these  countries, 
owing  to  the  special  conditions  of  their  development,  had  as  yet  no  developed  militarism 
or  bureaucracy.  That  is  how  matters  stood  before  developed  imperialism  made  its 
appearance.  But  later,  after  a  lapse  of  thirty  to  forty  years,  when  a  state  of  affairs 
in  these  countries  had  undergone  a  radical  change,  when  imperialism  was  developing 
and  was  embracing  all  capitalist  countries  without  exception,  when  militarism  and 
bureaucracy  appeared  in  England  and  the  United  States  also,  when  the  special  condi- 
tions of  peaceful  development  in  England  and  the  United  States  had  disappeared — then 
the  qualification  in  regard  to  these  countries  could  no  longer  apply. 

Lenin  said :  "Today,  in  1917,  in  the  epoch  of  the  first  great  imperialist  war,  this 
exception  made  by  Marx  is  no  longer  valid.  Both  England  and  America,  the  greatest 
and  last  representatives  of  Anglo-Saxon  'liberty'  in  the  whole  world  in  the  sense  of 
the  absence  of  militarism  and  bureaucracy,  have  today  plunged  headlong  into  the  all- 
European  dirty,  bloody  morass  of  military  bureaucratic  institutions  to  which  every- 
thing is  subordinated  and  which  trample  everything  underfoot.  Today,  both  in  England 
and  in  America,  'essential  for  every  real  people's  revolution'  is  the  break-up,  the  shatter- 
ing of  the  'ready-made'  state  machinery  (brought  in  those  countries,  between  1914  and 
1917,  to  general  'European'  imperialist  perfection)"  (State  and  Revolution,  Little 
Lenin  Library,  p.  34  ;  Collected  Works,  vol.  XXI,  book  II,  p.  180). 

In  other  words,  the  law  of  violent  proletarian  revolution,  the  law  of  destruction 
of  the  machinery  of  the  bourgeois  state  as  a  condition  precedent  for  such  revolution, 
is  an  inevitable  law  of  the  revolutionary  movement  in  the  imperialist  countries  of  the 
world.  *   *   * 

Lenin  is  therefore  right  in  saying :  "The  proletarian  revolution  is  impossible 
without  the  violent  destruction  of  the  bourgeois  state  machine  and  its  replacement  by  a 
new  one"  (The  proletarian  Revolution  and  Renegade  Kautsky). 

The  Soviet  Power  is  the  State  Form  of  the  Dictatorship  of  the  Proletariat.  The 
victory  of  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  signified  the  supression  of  the  bourgeoisie, 
the  break-up  of  the  bourgeois  state  machine  and  the  displacement  of  bourgeois  democ- 
racy by  proletarian  democracy.  That  is  clear.  {Ibid.,  pp.  53,  54,  55.) 

(D)  History  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union 
Communist  literature  is  replete  with  references  to  the  Communist 
Party  of  the  Soviet  Union  as  a  model  party,  as  "an  example  for  the 
Communist  Parties  of  all  countries. ' '  William  Z.  Foster,  present  chair- 
man of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A.,  has  extolled  the  CPSU  as  the 
"leading  party"  of  the  Communist  International,  "by  virtue  of  its  great 
revolutionary  experience."  It  is  therefore  highly  significant  that  the 
History  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  which  explains  in 
great  detail  how  that  party  seized  power  by  resort  to  force  and  violence, 
is  a  subject  of  required  reading  and  study  for  Communist  Party  mem- 
bers, for  Communist  schools,  and  is  presently  on  sale  at  Communist 
bookshops  throughout  the  United  States. 

The  Communist  Information  Bureau,  modern  version  of  the  Com- 
munist International,  has  given  the  following  clear  directive  to  all  Com- 
munist Parties : 

The  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  the  Party  of  Lenin-Stalin,  which 
has  a  membership  of  many  millions,  serves  as  a  great  example  to  the  Communist 
Parties  of  other  countries  who  see  in  the  CPSU  (B)  the  foremost  champion  for 
peace,  freedom  and  the  independence  of  peoples.  (For  a  Lasting  Peace,  for  a  People's 
Democracy,  Organ  of  the  Information  Bureau  of  the  Communist  Parties,  published 
in  Belgrade,  February  15,  194S,  p.  1.) 


224  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

New  Century  Publishers,  official  American  Communist  publishing 
house,  in  its  most  recent  catalog  dated  1948  has  listed  the  History  of  the 
Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union  as  "A  classic  work  of  historical  and 
dialectical  materialism." 

The  Jefferson  School  of  Social  Science,  cited  by  Attorney  General 
Tom  C.  Clark  as  an  "adjunct  of  the  Communist  Party,"  announced  in 
its  spring  1947  catalog,  a  course  entitled  "History  of  the  Communist 
Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,"  in  which  the  book  History  of  the  CPSTJ 
was  to  serve  as  ' '  the  basic  text. ' ' 

On  March  1,  1939,  when  100,000  copies  of  the  English  edition  of  this 
work  were  released  for  publication  as  the  "greatest  story  of  this  gen- 
eration, ' '  Earl  Browder,  then  general  secretary  of  the  Communist  Party, 
U.  S.  A.,  said: 

This  is  no  ordinary  book  to  be  skimmed  through  and  then  laid  aside  on  a  book- 
shelf. It  is  a  scientific  textbook  to  be  studied  and  mastered,  not  a  collection  of  dogmas 
to  be  memorized,  not  for  mechanical  quotation  of  extracts,  but  to  understand  the 
essence  of  the  theory  of  Marxism-Leninism  so  that  it  can  be  applied  to  the  most 
varied  and  different  problems  and  situations,  so  that  this  theory  can  be  enriched  with 
new  experiences  of  the  revolutionary  working  class  movement  also  of  our  country. 

(Daily  Worker,  March  1,  1939,  p.  3.) 

The  December  1938  Plenum  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A., 
stressed  the  importance  of  this  volume  even  more  emphatically,  and 
declared : 

Our  great  brother  Party,  the  Communist  Party  of  the  Soviet  Union,  which 
gave  to  the  world  the  supreme  example  of  the  Communist  program  translated  into 
life,  has  also  now  provided  us  with  a  great  instrument  for  our  ideological  rearmament. 
It  is  the  new  book,  A  Short  Course  in  the  History  of  the  Communist  Party  of  the 
Soviet  Union,  prepared  under  the  direction  of  its  Central  Committee,  with  the  personal 
participation  and  leadership  of  Comrade  Stalin.  *   *  * 

In  this  connection  the  following  steps  for  popularizing  the  publi- 
cation were  announced  by  the  Central  Committee  of  the  CPUSA : 

A  campaign  has  been  launched  to  get  the  book  into  the  hands  of  every  member 
of  the  Communist  Party  and  through  them,  to  their  friends.  *   *   * 

Each  district  is  called  upon  to  organize  at  least  one  mass  meeting  at  which 
a  leader  of  the  Party  should  lecture  on  the  book.  *   *  * 

The  national  educational  department  of  the  Communist  Party  is  preparing 
an  outline  to  aid  in  the  study  of  the  book. 

The  Communist  press  will  run  a  series  of  articles  by  Communist  leaders  on 
various  phases  of  the  book.  (Daily  Worker,  February  13,  1939,  p.  6.) 

As  recently  as  November  1947,  in  the  magazine  Political  Affairs, 
William  "W.  Weinstone,  New  York  State  educational  director  of  the 
Communist  Party,  recommended  the  History  of  the  CPSU  for  both  inter- 
mediate and  advanced  stages  of  study  of  Marxism-Leninism. 

In  the  March  1948  issue  of  Political  Affairs,  official  Communist 
Party  monthly  theoretical  organ,  Eugene  Dennis,  general  secretary  of 
the  Party,  insisted  that  the  Party — 

must  acquire  a  new  and  more  profound  grasp  of  the  theory  and  lessons  to  be  learned 
from  such  Marxist  classics  as  *  *  *  the  History  of  the  CP8V  as  well  as  from  such 
authoritative  Marxist  political  journals  as  the  new  publication  of  the  Communist 
Information  Bureau,  For  a  Lasting  Peace,  For  a  People's  Democracy. 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  225 

The  following-  citations  on  force  and  violence  are  taken  from  the 
History  of  the  CPSU  serving  as  a  clear  instruction  and  guide  to  all 
members  of  the  Communist  Party,  U.  S.  A. : 

1.  This  basic  guide  for  American  Communists  reiterates  the  prin- 
ciples of  Marx  and  Engels  regarding  the  impossibility  of  accomplishing 
the  socialist  revolution  by  other  than  violent  means. 

Impossibility  of  Overthrow  of  Capitalism  by  Peaceful  Means. 

Revolutionary  Violence 

Marx  and  Engels  taught  that  it  was  impossible  to  get  rid  of  the  power  of 
capital  and  to  convert  capitalist  property  into  public  property  by  peaceful  means, 
and  that  the  working  class  could  achieve  this  only  by  revolutionary  violence  against 
the  bourgeoisie,  by  a  proletarian  revolution,  by  establishing  its  own  political  rule — 
the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat — which  must  crush  the  resistance  of  the  exploiters 
and  create  a  new,  classless,  Communist  society.  (History  of  the  Communist  Party  of 
the  Soviet  Union  (Bolsheviks).  Short  course.  Edited  by  a  commission  of  the  Central 
Committee  of  the  CPSU  (B) .  Authorized  by  the  Central  Committee  of  the  CPSU  (B) . 
International  Publishers,  New  York,  copyright,  1939,  p.  9.) 

2.  As  a  type  study  the  History  of  the  CPSU  calls  attention  to  the 
armed  revolt  on  the  Russian  battleship  "Potemkin,"  the  first  revolu- 
tionary action  in  the  Russian  armed  forces. 

Revolt  in  the  Navy.  Armed  Clashes  With  Police  and  Troops 

In  June  1905  a  revolt  broke  out  on  the  "Potemkin,"  a  battleship  of  the  Black 
Sea  Fleet.  The  battleship  was  at  that  time  stationed  near  Odessa,  where  a  general 
strike  of  the  workers  was  in  progress.  The  insurgent  sailors  wreaked  vengeance  on 
their  detested  officers  and  brought  the  vessel  to  Odessa.  The  battleship  "Potemkin" 
had  gone  over  to  the  side  of  the  revolution.  *  *  * 

Lenin  attributed  immense  importance  to  this  revolt.  He  considered  it  necessary 
for  the  Bolsheviks  to  assume  the  leadership  of  this  movement  and  to  link  it  up  with  the 
movement  of  the  workers,  peasants  and  local  garrisons.  *   *  * 

The  "Potemkin"  revolt  was  the  first  instance  of  mass  revolutionary  action  in 
the  army  and  navy,  the  first  occasion  on  which  a  large  unit  of  the  armed  forces  of  the 
tsar  sided  with  the  revolution.  *   *  * 

The  workers'  recourse  to  mass  political  strikes  and  demonstrations,  the  growth 
of  the  peasant  movement,  the  armed  clashes  between  the  people  and  the  police  and 
troops,  and,  finally,  the  revolt  in  the  Black  Sea  Fleet,  all  went  to  show  that  conditions 
were  ripening  for  an  armed  uprising  of  the  people.  {Ibid.,  pp.  60,  61.) 

3.  Time  and  again  it  stressed  the  importance  of  armed  uprising. 

Armed  Uprising.  Organize  for  Insurrection 

Lenin  considered  that  the  most  effective  means  of  overthrowing  tsardom  and 
achieving  a  democratic  republic  was  a  victorious  armed  uprising  of  the  people.  Con- 
trary to  the  Mensheviks,  Lenin  held  that  "the  general  democratic  revolutionary  move- 
ment has  already  brought  about  the  necessity  for  an  armed  uprising,"  that  "the  organi- 
zation of  the  proletariat  for  uprising"  had  already  "been  placed  on  the  order  of  the 
day  as  one  of  the  essential,  principal  and  indispensable  tasks  of  the  Party,"  and  that 
it  was  necessary  "to  adopt  the  most  energetic  measures  to  arm  the  proletariat  and  to 
ensure  the  possibility  of  directly  leading  the  uprising." 

To  guide  the  masses  to  an  uprising  and  to  turn  it  into  an  uprising  of  the  whole 
people,  Lenin  deemed  it.  necessary  to  issue  such  slogans,  such  appeals  to  the  masses  as 
would  set  free  their  revolutionary  initiative,  organize  them  for  insurrection  and  dis- 
organize the  machinery  of  power  of  tsardom.  He  considered  that  these  slogans  were 
furnished  by  the  tactical  decisions  of  the  Third  Party  Congress,  to  the  defense  of  which 
his  book  "Two  Tactics  of  Social-Democracy  in  the  Democratic  Revolution"  was 
devoted.  {Ibid.,  p.  70.) 


8— L-8202 


226  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

4.  The  book  reiterates  the  necessity  of  armed  force  to  accomplish  a 
revolution. 


Military  Force 

A  decisive  victory  of  the  revolution  over  tsardom  is  the  revolutionary-democratic 
dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  and  the  peasantry,  Lenin  said :  "*  *  *  Such  a  victory 
will  be  precisely  a  dictatorship,  i.e.,  it  must  inevitably  rely  on  military  force,  on  the 
arming  of  the  masses,  on  an  uprising  and  not  on  institutions  of  one  kind  or  another, 
established  in  a  'lawful'  or  'peaceful'  way." 

The  Bolsheviks  called  the  workers  to  arms,  to  prepare  for  armed  uprising.  {Hid., 
pp.  70  and  78.) 

5.  The  History  of  the  CPSU  then  describes  in  detail  Lenin's  prepara- 
tory steps  for  the  armed  uprising. 

Armed  Struggle.  Armed  Insurrection.  Lenin  and  Armed  Uprising. 

Stalin  Calls  for  Arms 

The  bulk  of  the  sailors  and  soldiers  in  revolt  did  not  yet  clearly  realize  the  neces- 
sity for  the  overthrow  of  the  tsarist  government,  for  the  energetic  prosecution  of  the 
armed  struggle.  They  were  still  too  peaceful  and  complacent ;  they  frequently  made  the 
mistake  of  releasing  officers  who  had  been  arrested  at  the  outbreak  of  the  revolt,  and 
would  allow  themselves  to  be  placated  by  the  promises  and  coaxing  of  their  supe- 
riors. *  *  * 

The  revolutionary  movement  had  approached  the  verge  of  armed  insurrection. 
The  Bolsheviks  called  upon  the  masses  to  rise  in  arms  against  the  tsar  and  the  land- 
lords, and  explained  to  them  that  this  was  inevitable.  The  Bolsheviks  worked  inde- 
fatigably  in  preparing  for  armed  uprising.  Revolutionary  work  was  carried  on  among 
the  soldiers  and  sailors,  and  military  organizations  of  the  Party  were  set  up  in  the 
armed  forces.  Workers'  fighting  squads  were  formed  in  a  number  of  cities,  and  their 
members  taught  the  use  of  arms.  The  purchase  of  arms  from  abroad  and  the  smug- 
gling of  them  into  Russia  was  organized,  prominent  members  of  the  Party  taking  part 
in  arranging  for  their  transportation. 

In  November  1905  Lenin  returned  to  Russia.  He  took  a  direct  part  in  the  prepa- 
rations for  armed  uprising,  while  keeping  out  of  the  way  of  the  tsar's  gendarmes  and 
spies.  His  articles  in  the  Bolshevik  newspaper,  Novaya  Zhizn  (New  Life),  served  to 
guide  the  Party  in  its  day-to-day  work. 

At  this  period  Comrade  Stalin  was  carrying  on  tremendous  revolutionary  work 
in  Transcaucasia.  He  exposed  and  lashed  the  Mensheviks  as  foes  of  the  revolution 
and  of  the  armed  uprising.  Speaking  at  a  meeting  of  workers  in  Tiflis  on  the  day  the 
tsar's  Manifesto  was  announced,  Comrade  Stalin  said :  "What  do  we  need  in  order  to 
really  win  ?  We  need  three  things  :  first — arms,  second — arms,  third — arms  and  arms 
again  !"  (Ibid.,  p.  81.) 

6.  The  volume  describes  the  participation  and  the  leadership  of  the 
Russian  Communists  in  the  armed  revolt. 

Communist  Role  in  Armed  Uprising.  Lenin  on  Taking  Arms 

As  by  that  time  the  armed  uprising  had  already  begun  in  Moscow,  the  conference, 
on  Lenin's  advice  hastily  completed  its  work  and  dispersed  to  enable  the  delegates  to 
participate  personally  in  the  uprising.  *   *   * 

In  reply  to  this,  the  Moscow  Bolsheviks  and  the  Moscow  Soviet  of  Workers' 
Deputies  which  they  led  and  which  was  connected  with  the  broad  masses  of  the  workers, 
decided  to  make  immediate  preparations  for  armed  uprising.  On  December  5  (18)  the 
Moscow  Bolshevik  Committee  resolved  to  call  upon  the  Soviet  to  declare  a  general 
political  strike  with  the  object  of  turning  it  into  an  uprising  in  the  course  of  the  strug- 
gle. This  decision  was  supported  at  mass  meetings  of  the  workers.  *  *  * 

When  the  Moscow  proletariat  began  the  revolt,  it  had  a  fighting  organization  of 
about  one  thousand  combatants,  more  than  half  of  whom  were  Bolsheviks.  In  addition 
there  were  fighting  squads  in  several  of  the  Moscow  factories.  In  all,  the  insurrection- 
aries  had  a  force  of  about  two  thousand  combatants.  The  workers  expected  to  neutralize 
the  garrison  and  to  win  over  a  part  of  it  to  their  side.  *   *   * 

The  uprising  assumed  a  particularly  stubborn  and  bitter  character  in  the  Kras- 
naya  Presnya  district  of  Moscow.  This  was  the  main  stronghold  and  centre  of  the 
uprising.  Here  the  best  of  the  fighting  squads,  led  by  Bolsheviks,  were  concen- 
trated. *  *  * 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  227 

The  uprising  was  not  confined  to  Moscow.  Revolutionary  uprising  broke  out  in  a 
number  of  other  cities  and  districts.  There  were  armed  uprisings  in  Krasnoyarsk, 
Motovilikha  (Perm),  Novorossisk,  Sormovo,  Sevastapol  and  Kronstadt.  *   *  * 

The  oppressed  nationalities  of  Russia  also  rose  in  armed  struggle.  Nearly  the 
whole  of  Georgia  was  up  in  arms.  A  big  uprising  took  place  in  the  Ukraine,  in  the 
cities  of  Gorlovka,  Alexandrovsk  and  Lugansk  (now  Voroshilovgrad)  in  the  Donetz 
Basin.  A  stubborn  struggle  was  waged  at  Latvia.  In  Finland  the  workers  formed  their 
Red  Guard  and  rose  in  revolt.  *  *   * 

"On  the  contrary,"  Lenin  said,  "we  should  have  taken  to  arms  more  resolutely, 
energetically  and  aggressively  ;  we  should  have  explained  to  the  masses  that  it  was 
impossible  to  confine  ourselves  to  a  peaceful  strike  and  that  a  fearless  and  relentless 
armed  fight  was  indispensable."   (Ibid.,  pp.  82,  83,  84.) 

7.  This  revolutionary  textbook  then  recalls  Marx'  definition  of  force. 

Force 

"Force,"  said  Karl  Marx,  "is  the  midwife  of  every  old  society  pregnant  with  a 
new  one."  (Ibid.,  p.  130.) 

8.  In  full  support  of  the  line  laid  down  by  Lenin  this  authoritative 
work  rejects  the  moderates'  plea  for  civil  peace  and  urges  civil  war  in 
preference. 

Civil  War  vs.  Civil  Peace.  Uprising  Against  Own  Government.  Policy 

Applicable  to  All  Belligerent  Countries 

In  opposition  to  the  Menshevik  and  Socialist-Revolutionary  renunciation  of 
revolution  and  their  treacherous  slogan  of  preserving  "civil  peace"  in  time  of  war,  the 
Bolsheviks  advanced  the  slogan  of  "converting  the  imperialist  war  into  a  civil  war." 
This  slogan  meant  that  the  laboring  people,  including  the  armed  workers  and  peasants 
clad  in  soldiers'  uniform,  were  to  turn  their  weapons  against  their  own  bourgeoisie  and 
overthrow  its  rule  if  they  wanted  to  put  an  end  to  the  war  and  achieve  a  just 
peace.  *  *  * 

In  opposition  to  the  Menshevik  and  Socialist-Revolutionary  policy  of  defending 
the  bourgeois  fatherland,  the  Bolsheviks  advanced  the  policy  of  "the  defeat  of  one's 
own  government  in  the  imperialist  war."  This  meant  voting  against  war  credits, 
forming  illegal  revolutionary  organizations  in  the  armed  forces,  supporting  fraterniza- 
tion among  the  soldiers  at  the  front,  organizing  revolutionary  actions  of  the  workers 
and  peasants  against  the  war,  and  turning  these  actions  into  an  uprising  against  one's 
own  imperialist  government.  *  *   * 

Lenin  held  that  the  policy  of  working  for  the  defeat  of  one's  own  imperialist 
government  must  be  pursued  not  only  by  the  Russian  revolutionaries,  but  by  the 
revolutionary  parties  of  the  working  class  in  all  the  belligerent  countries.  (Ibid.,  p.  167.) 

9.  The  conversion  of  "imperialist  war"  into  civil  war  is  practically 
the  theme  song  of  this  work. 

Turn  Weapons  Against  Own  Government 

At  the  front,  the  Party  agitated  for  fraternization  between  the  soldiers  of  the 
warring  armies,  emphasizing  the  fact  that  the  world  bourgeoisie  was  the  enemy,  and 
that  the  war  could  be  ended  only  by  converting  the  imperialist  war  into  a  civil  war 
and  turning  one's  weapons  against  one's  own  bourgeoisie  and  its  government.  Cases 
of  refusal  of  army  units  to  take  the  offensive  became  more  and  more  frequent.  There 
were  already  such  instances  in  1915,  and  even  more  in  1916.  (Ibid.,  p.  172.) 

10.  The  volume  describes  how  the  police  and  armed  forces  were  either 
disarmed  or  disintegrated. 

Police  Disarmed 

On  the  morning  ef  February  26  (March  11)  the  political  strike  and  demonstra- 
tion began  to  assume  the  character  of  an  uprising.  The  workers  disarmed  police  and 
gendarmes  and  armed  themselves.  Nevertheless,  the  clashes  with  the  police  ended  with 
the  shooting  down  of  a  demonstration  on  Znamenskaya  Square.  *  *  * 

On  February  26  (March  11)  the  4th  Company  of  the  Reserve  Battalion  of  the 
Pavlovsky  Regiment  opened  fire,  not  on  the  workers,  however,  but  on  squads  of  mounted 


228  UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA 

police  who  were  engaged  in  a  skirmish  with  the  workers.  A  most  energetic  and  per- 
sistent drive  was  made  to  win  over  the  troops  especially  by  the  working  women,  who 
addressed  themselves  directly  to  the  soldiers,  fraternized  with  them  and  called  upon 
them  to  help  the  people  to  overthrow  the  hated  tsarist  autocracy.  (Ibid.,  p.  175.) 

11.  The  arrest  of  ministers  at  the  direction  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Central  Committee  in  the  Communist  Party  is  described  together  with 
the  steps  toward  mutiny  in  the  armed  forces. 

Armed  Struggle  Against  Government.  Arrest  of  Ministers.  Firing  on  Police 

On  February  26  (March  11)  the  Bureau  of  the  Central  Committee  issued  a 
manifesto  calling  for  the  continuation  of  the  armed  struggle  against  tsardom  and  the 
formation  of  a  Provisional  Revolutionary  Government.  *  *   * 

The  workers  and  soldiers  who  had  risen  in  revolt  began  to  arrest  tsarist  min- 
isters and  generals  and  to  free  revolutionaries  from  jail.  The  released  political  prisoners 
joined  the  revolutionary  struggle.  *  *  * 

In  the  streets,  shots  were  still  being  exchanged  with  police  and  gendarmes  posted 
with  machine  guns  in  the  attics  of  houses.  But  the  troops  rapidly  went  over  to  the  side 
of  the  workers,  and  this  decided  the  fate  of  tsarist  autocracy.  *  *  *   (Ibid.,  p.  176.) 

12.  Lenin's  precept  that  the  Soviets  (now  known  as  action  com- 
mittees in  certain  countries)  are  the  actual  organs  of  armed  uprising,  is 
given  added  emphasis. 

Soviets  Organs  of  Armed  Uprising 

The  Revolution  of  1905  had  shown  that  the  Soviets  were  organs  of  armed  uprising 
and  at  the  same  time  the  embryo  of  a  new,  revolutionary  power.  (Ibid.,  p.  177.) 

13.  The  volume  then  describes  the  detailed  instruction  for  the  armed 
uprising  given  by  Lenin  to  the  Central  Committee  of  the  Russian  Com- 
munist Party. 

Plan  of  Uprising 

The  Bolsheviks  began  intensive  preparations  for  the  uprising.  Lenin  declared 
that,  having  secured  a  majority  in  the  Soviets  of  Workers'  and  Soldiers'  Deputies  in 
both  the  capitals — Moscow  and  Petrograd — the  Bolsheviks  could  and  should  take  the 
state  power  into  their  own  hands.  Reviewing  the  path  that  had  been  traversed,  Lenin 
stressed  the  fact  that  "the  majority  of  the  people  are  for  us."  In  his  articles  and 
letters  to  the  Central  Committee  and  the  Bolshevik  organizations,  Lenin  outlined  a 
detailed  plan  for  the  uprising  showing  how  the  army  units,  the  navy  and  the  Red  Guards 
should  be  used,  what  key  positions  in  Petrograd  should  be  seized  in  order  to  ensure 
the  success  of  the  uprising,  and  so  forth.  *  *  * 

On  October  10,  1917,  the  historic  meeting  of  the  Central  Committee  of  the  Party 
took  place  at  which  it  was  decided  to  launch  the  armed  uprising  within  the  next  few 
days.  The  historic  resolution  of  the  Central  Committee  of  the  Party,  drawn  up  by 
Lenin,  stated  : 

"The  Central  Committe  recognizes  that  the  international  position  of  the  Russian 
revolution  (the  revolt  in  the  German  navy  which  is  an  extreme  manifestation  of  the 
growth  throughout  Europe  of  the  world  Socialist  revolution ;  the  threat  of  conclusion 
of  peace  by  the  imperialists  with  the  object  of  strangling  the  revolution  in  Russia) 
as  well  as  its  military  position  (the  indubitable  decision  of  the  Russian  bourgeoisie 
and  Kerensky  and  Co.  to  surrender  Petrograd  to  the  Germans),  and  the  fact  that  the 
proletarian  party  has  gained  a  majority  of  the  Soviets — all  this,  taken  in  conjunction 
with  the  peasant  revolt  and  the  swing  of  popular  confidence  towards  our  Party  (the 
elections  in  Moscow),  and,  finally,  the  obvious  preparations  being  made  for  a  second 
Kornilov  affair  (the  withdrawal  of  troops  from  Petrograd,  the  dispatch  of  Cossacks 
to  Petrograd,  the  surrounding  of  Minsk  by  Cossacks,  etc.) — all  this  places  the  armed 
uprising  on  the  order  of  the  day. 

"Considering  therefore  that  an  armed  uprising  is  inevitable,  and  that  the  time 
for  it  is  fully  ripe,  the  Central  Committee  instructs  all  Party  organizations  to  be 
guided  accordingly,  and  to  discuss  and  decide  all  practical  questions  (the  Congress  of 
Soviets  of  the  Northern  Region,  the  withdrawal  of  troops  from  Petrograd,  the  action 
of  our  people  in  Moscow  and  Minsk,  etc.)  from  this  point  of  view."  (Ibid.,  pp.  204 
and  205.) 


UN-AMERICAN  ACTIVITIES  IN   CALIFORNIA  229 

14.  A  clear  description  is  given  of  how  the  Central  Committee  of  the 
Russian  Communist  Party  directed  the  armed  revolt  in  both  the  Army 
and  the  Navy. 

Party  Prepares  Forces  for  Uprising 

The  Pre-parliament  was  dissolved.  The  Smolny,  the  headquarters  of  the  Petro- 
grad  Soviet  and  of  the  Bolshevik  Central  Committee,  became  the  headquarters  of  the 
revolution,  from  which  all  fighting  orders  emanated. 

The  Petrograd  workers  in  those  days  showed  what  a  splendid  schooling  they  had 
received  under  the  guidance  of  the  Bolshevik  Party.  The  revolutionary  units  of  the 
army,  prepared  for  the  uprising  by  the  work  of  the  Bolsheviks,  carried  out  fighting 
orders  with  precision  and  fought  side  by  side  with  the  Red  Guard.  The  navy  did  not 
lag  behind  the  army.  Kronstadt  was  a  stronghold  of  the  Bolshevik  Party,  and  had 
long  since  refused  to  recognize  the  authority  of  the  Provisional  Government.  The 
cruiser  Aurora  trained  its  guns  on  the  Winter  Palace,  and  on  October  25  their  thunder 
ushered  in  a  new  era,  the  era  of  the  Great  Socialist  Revolution. 

On  the  night  of  October  25  the  revolutionary  workers,  soldiers  and  sailors  took 
the  Winter  Palace  by  storm  and  arrested  the  Provisional  Government.  (Hid.,  p.  208.) 

15.  Joseph  Stalin  here  describes  the  Communist  (Bolshevik)  Party 
as  a  party  of  a  new  type  particularly  suited  to  the  struggle  for  power  in 
a  period  of  sharp  collisions. 

Seizure  of  Power 

The  history  of  the  Party  teaches  us  that  only  a  party  of  the  new  type,  a  Marxist- 
Leninist  party,  a  party  of  social  revolution,  a  party  capable  of  preparing  the  proletariat 
for  decisive  battles  against  the  bourgeoisie  and  of  organizing  the  victory  of  the  prole- 
tarian revolution,  can  be  such  a  party.  *  *   * 

The  Bolshevik  Party  in  the  U.  S.  S.  R.  is  such  a  party. 

"In  the  pre-revolutionary  period,"  Comrade  Stalin  says,  "in  the  period  of  more 
or  less  peaceful  development,  when  the  parties  of  the  Second  International  were  the 
predominant  force  in  the  working  class  movement  and  parliamentary  forms  of  struggle 
were  regarded  as  the  principal  forms,  the  party  neither  had  nor  could  have  had  that 
great  and  decisive  importance  which  it  acquired  afterwards,  under  conditions  of  open 
revolutionary  battle." 

Party  Contrasted  With  Parties  of  Peaceful  Period 

"But  matters  have  changed  radically  with  the  dawn  of  the  new  period.  The  new 
period  is  one  of  open  class  collisions,  of  revolutionary  action  by  the  proletariat  of 
proletarian  revolution,  a  period  when  forces  are  being  directly  mustered  for  the  over- 
throw of  imperialism  and  the  seizure  of  power  by  the  proletariat.  In  this  period  the 
proletariat  is  confronted  with  new  tasks,  the  tasks  of  reorganizing  all  party  work  on 
new,  revolutionary  lines ;  of  educating  the  workers  in  the  spirit  of  revoluti